A Sana’a primary court convicted Wednesday two local journalists of insulting the Islamic religion and ridiculing prophet Mohammed (PBUH) by republishing some of the Danish cartoons back in February. Judge Mohammed Rubaid of the South East Sana’a delivered guilty verdicts against Akram Sabra, managing editor of Al-Hurriyah weekly and his assistant Yehya al-Abed.
The two journalists received suspended sentences that include four months of jail time, the closure of the paper for one month and a one-month ban on writing for both men. Suspending the sentences means that no part of the verdict will be enacted, though it will go on record. However, the judge did order the editors to publish the court’s decision in all official newspapers, at their own cost, as soon as possible.
In less than one month, three local newspapers and their editors were convicted of insulting Islam. The three newspapers, including Yemen Observer, republished some of the Danish cartoons in the context of criticizing them. The Observer was fined YR 500,000 (U.S. $2,530) by Judge Sahl Hamza of the South West Sana’a court on December 6. The paper was allowed to remain open, and the editor received no prison sentence. Editor Kamal al-Olufi of Al-Rai Al-A’am was convicted on November 25 and sentenced to one year’s jail time, the closure of the newspaper for six months, and a ban on him writing for the same period.
The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate condemned the verdicts against the three newspapers and the editors and called for the intervention of the president to void the verdicts. The syndicate appealed to the president to close the files of Danish cartoons forever, because the fabricated cases were being used to hinder the already slow progress of press freedom in the country.
International press freedom organizations including the International Federation of Journalists, Reports without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists and others condemned the trials and the verdicts. They specifically called upon the president to intervene and stop the implementation of the verdict against al-Olufi, who is currently at large, and his newspaper, which has been closed down by the prosecutor.
The case filed by lawyers commissioned by Sheikh Abdul Majeed al-Zindani, which accused Sabra and al-Abed of violating their civil rights by insulting the prophet, was dismissed by judge Rubeid for lacking merit.
“This is the only right decision by the three judges in the three different cases against the three newspapers,” said Waheeb al-Nusari, journalist.
Upon hearing the sentence against him and his newspaper Al-Hurriyah, Sabra said that he would appeal the ruling. Sabra’s lawyer Khaled al-Anesi, said that despite the apparent leniency of the verdict, it is not favorable to his client. The personal safety of the four journalists following their convictions of insulting Islam has been raised as an issue and a as reason for advocating for the president’s overturning of the verdicts. In the meantime, Al-Anesi recommended that his client file an appeal.
Mohammed Shaher, deputy minister of information, threatened that the sentence against the Yemen Observer is not satisfying. “We will appeal the ruling too,” he told the editor of the Observer Wednesday. “You should be punished like your colleagues.”
Local journalists are outraged due to the deteriorated situation of press freedom in Yemen. “I am afraid that a police-policy government seems to dominate the situation,” a veteran editor and member of the journalists syndicate board said.
