Editor imprisoned, paper shut down over Cartoons - 2006/11/28 15:03Friday brought the world yet another incident of stupid governments trying to shut the mouth of the story-teller rather than relate to what is being said.
This particular story goes on in Yemen, where Kamal al-Olufi, editor of the Al-Rai Al-A’am weekly, was imprisoned (and later released pending his appeal) after Judge Hassan al-Akwa’a sentenced him to a year behind bars for insulting Islam and abusing the prophet.
The judge also ordered that the newspaper be shut down for six months, and that al-Olufi be banned from writing for the same period, upon completion of his prison sentence. Moreover, al-Olufi was also sentenced to pay for the publishing of the court verdict in all the newspapers in the country.
Mohammed writes:
> Dear All, > As you may remember, I am being prosecuted for > republishing obscured fragments of the Danish > cartoons back in February. One of the editors in > another newspaper who run those cartoons was > convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment, > closing the newspaper and banning him from writing > for 18 months. > My verdict will be announced on December 6, It > seems that the same or close sentence will be made > against me. > Here's more: www.yobserver.com > I need your solidarity and support. Thank you all > Mohammed Al-Asaadi > Yemen
You can read more about the story at his paper's web-site:
You can contact Mohammed personally at alasadi20@yahoo.com and + 967 711 333 555
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Mohammed Al-Asaadi
Re:Editor imprisoned, paper shut down over Cartoons - 2006/11/29 02:44It is only 8 days remaining between the basement cell and me, God forbid. I expect the announcement of my verdict next December 6. My colleague Kamal Al-Ulofi, who was sentenced to one year jail time and shut down of his paper. He is also banned from writing for 18 months. His crime was that he ran an image of the website of the Danish newspaper on which the cartoons were visible. He was prosecuted and punished for insulting Islam. Read here: http://www.yobserver.com/article-11296.php I have been prosecuted according to the same charges. I republished three obscured thumbnail-sized cartoons in with a report in February. I wanted to show the society the cause of the international fuss and disturbance. On the same page and in the same report, I printed images of Muslims' reactions: protests, boycott and counter drawing. I wanted to show the cause and result. I wrote an editorial urging Muslims and governments to accept the apologies and move on... http://www.yobserver.com/cgi-bin/2007/exec/view.cgi/22/9445 My newspaper’s license was revoked and the paper was suspended for three months. I was taken to jail – in a dark unhealthy basement – for 12 days with criminals, smugglers and other people. I had a terrible experience. After those days, I was released on bail, but the trial continues. In addition to the press prosecutor, 21 private prosecutors were commissioned by a radical and influential sheikh to prosecute us. The sheikh collected more than five million Yemeni rials (about $ 25000) from mosques in few days to prosecute us. My family had a miserable time; my mum and dad live in a village in the countryside about 6 hours off-the-road drive from my work city. They heard the news on BBC that the private called for a death punishment for me for insulting the prophet (PBUH) and the really did in an indirect way. Anyone can imagine how the reaction of one’s parent to such news, especially being their source of pride. I have been suffering from different accusations and even jokes by people around me who usually attach some bad words to my name like: infidel, abuser and so on. Now after ten months of trial, the local and international journalist community was shocked by the sentence against my colleague. I am afraid, a similar or smoother sentence may be made against me. I am really worried about the idea of getting convicted let alone the punishment. If got convicted, it means that I can be always blackmailed, harassed and intimated if not attacked by authorities or by extremist groups. This is in brief what I went through and I wish that all the sacrifices my colleagues and I are making will ultimately bring about a real press freedom in my country. Though the fear is surrounding me everywhere I go, I am willing and determined to continue this mission whatever were the sacrifices. Thank you all very much for your solidarity, support and encouragement. Let’s unite for a better understanding among our nations and struggle hard to protect our rights to voice peoples’ concerns.
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With the sentencing this week of Kamal al-Olufi, editor of the Al-Rai Al-A’am weekly, Yemen has just failed one of the first tests of its fledgling democracy. Al-Olufi was thrown in jail earlier Saturday, after Judge Hassan al-Akwa’a sentenced him to a year behind bars for insulting Islam and abusing the prophet by republishing Danish cartoons that depicted the Prophet.
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The Yemen Journalists Syndicate appealed Sunday to President Ali Abdullah Saleh to intervene and put a stop to the ongoing harassment of local journalists in light of the closure of a newspaper and the pursuit of its editor for arrest.
The Public Prosecutor closed down the Al-Rai Al-A’am newspaper with sealing wax Saturday morning and gave instructions for the immediate arrest of its editor-in-chief Kamal al-Olufi.
Al-Olufi and his paper were convicted on November 25 in a case stemming from the publishing of the Danish cartoons. He was sentenced to one year’s jail time, the closure of the paper for six months, and a ban on him from writing for 18 months. The prosecutor then released the editor from custody pending his appeal.
Al-Olufi expressed his disappointment and frustration with the change of attitude of the Public Prosecutor and the serious actions taken against him. “What does this mean?” al-Olufi asked on phone from his hideout. “It means we can’t appeal our case while I am free and the paper is working. It means that there’s no safe environment for journalists and media to operate. It means we go bankrupt and stop journalism.”
A group of journalists formed a lobbying network to put all sorts of pressure on the executive authority to cancel the outstanding cases of the three editors and their newspapers. They urged their union leadership to arrange a massive and open meeting for journalists, parliamentarians, human rights and freedoms activists, NGO and political parties’ representatives at the premises of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate. The open meeting will be dedicated to discussing the dangers of the recently issued verdict and the possible verdicts against Yemen Observer and its editor and Al-Hurriya and its managing editor and his assistant.
The journalists’ lobby network, a movement organized to face the challenges of these particular cases, circulated a petition to be signed by all journalists to authorize any peaceful action by the syndicate members to protest their colleagues’ sentences.
Mohammed al-Asaadi, editor of the Yemen Observer, will hear his verdict in the Danish cartoons case on Wednesday, December 6 at the South West court in the capital, Sana’a. There are fears that al-Asaadi might receive a jail sentence and have his paper shut down.
The editors appealed to all local, regional and international organizations supporting public and press freedoms as well as democracy to stand by them and condemn such irresponsible prosecutions.
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