Yemeni journalist abducted

Yemen's bad press situation took a turn for the worse today.  UPI reports:

An outspoken Yemeni journalist was abducted Tuesday in an obvious link to an article in which he criticized President Ali Abdullah Saleh and senior officials.

Sources said Jamal Amer, editor in chief of the weekly al-Wasat, was seized outside his home by two men in plain clothes driving a car with an army license plate.

The incident, the latest in a series of moves aimed at terrorizing the local press, outraged the press syndicate which issued a strongly worded statement condemning "the unprecedented wave of oppression targeting journalists."

"The press body in Yemen is experiencing the age of terror, especially since the publications started speaking openly about corruption and scandals in which officials are involved, including the Yemeni president personally," the statement said.

Another journalist, Mohammed Saleh Hadiri, has been complaining of anonymous harassment and threats following the publication of his article on the corruption of the regime which he described as "futile." In the past Hadiri has been imprisoned and barred from writing for a year.

A third journalist, Khaled Salman, is scheduled to appear before a press court Wednesday regarding a report he published entitled "Those who are robbing the nation`s wealth."

Stacey Yadav adds from her current base in Sanaa:

The editor-in-chief of the Yemeni weekly al-Wasat was kidnapped this morning. Jamal Awad, who is a personal acquaintance of mine, was blindfolded and taken from his home by armed men to a location outside of Sana’a. He was told that he could continue to write about ministers and the government, but not the ruling regime.

This comes in response to an August 17th article in al-Wasat in which Awad published the names of more than 50 children of high-ranking regime officials (including the president’s family) who received scholarships to study in the US and Europe. The “article” was little more than a list, but amid the regular but loose allegations of corruption in Yemen, it stood out for its simple indictment.

Before releasing Awad, the kidnappers told him that he would be killed if he spoke about this incident. From what I can tell, just about the first thing that he did upon his release was to contact the independent media, News Yemen, run by my good friend and professional envelope-pusher Nabil as-Sofee.

(see Stacey's outstanding April 2005 article on the Yemeni press for more background)

On the kidnapping and threatening of muckraking journalists in Arab countries "infested with corruption", let's be glad that Jamal Amer didn't end up like Dhayf al-Ghazzal or Samir Qassir... this time.  Perhaps some international scrutiny might even keep there from being a next time?

UPDATE:  Mohammed (in Arabic) adds Abd al-Halim Qandal (Egyptian editor of al-Araby) to the roster, and points out that this abduction and threat incident is actually the closest to this Yemeni one.

Comments

[Stacey]

Let me add one thing about the press in Yemen. I mentioned Nabil as an envelope-pusher, but he's by no means alone. Yemen has responded very differently, on the whole, than places with heavy restriction and intimidation, like Egypt or Syria. Yemenis to the man get pissed off by such attempts to curtail their liberty, and incur great personal risks for this. Al-Khaiwani, who was only recently released from prison by presidential fiat, is back on the beat, speaking out pretty much as loudly as he did before. When my article was translated and published in Yemen (without my permission), I was really scared for a number of the people whom I'd quoted by name, especially Nabil. Once I got back to Sana'a, he was quick to say that he's said all the same in print himself, no worries.

I am embolded and inspired by the daily courage of the Yemeni media. Even while I criticize the journalistic irresponsibility of some, the overwhelming majority are doing their level best to stick it to The Man every week. I can't wait to see how this is covered in tomorrow's papers.

*Oh, yeah, and Abu: thanks for making me check the spelling of the guy's name - I just had lunch with him once in February, and Yemen's very much a first-name-and-job-title place, so I got a little sloppy.