3 journalists given 5-month suspended sentences

Reporters sans frontières has protested against the Yemeni court's conviction of Abdul-Rahim Mohsen, Khaled Salman and Ibrahim Hasan, who received suspended sentences of five months' imprisonment. "This verdict is a perfect example of the inconsistency in the Yemen between official statements about the freedom of the press, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, and what happens in practice. Journalists are regularly arrested and convicted for 'defamation' because they dare to write about taboo subjects such as sex, relations with 'brother' countries, Islam and the law," writes Robert Ménard, the organisation's Secretary-General, in a letter to Interior Minister Rashad al-Alimi. "We ask that these sentences be overturned, and demand the immediate release of the journalist who is still in prison," he adds. As Reporters sans frontières recalls, over the past year two journalists have been arrested, three weekly publications closed down, and two journalists have been banned from publishing their work. The court in Sanaa sentenced Khaled Salman, editor of the daily Al-Thawri, the paper of the opposition Socialist Party, and two of the paper's journalists, Abdul-Rahim Mohsen, who is also a writer, and Ibrahim Hasan, to suspended sentences of five months' imprisonment on 4 June 2002. They had been charged with incitement to "religious sedition" and "harming national unity" following the publication of a series of articles in February. The charges were brought by the Ministry of Information. The journalists have appealed. However, although Khaled Salman and Ibrahim Hasan have been released, Abdul-Rahim Mohsen remains in custody. He was arrested on 23 May 2002, and had also been detained briefly earlier in the month. The Interior Ministry has refused to disclose details of where he is being held or for what reasons, but this would appear to be in connection with articles he has written criticising government corruption, violations of human rights, and the wave of arrests following the 11 September terrorist attacks on the United States. Khaled Salman was a supporter of the south Yemeni separatists during the 1994 civil war, as a result of which he still has problems with the police today. On 30 April, the Interior Minister, Rashad al-Alimi, and the Minister of Information, Hussein Daifallah al-Awadi, warned journalists and Arab and foreign correspondents against propagating false information that could damage the image and interests of the country. Rashad al-Alimi declared at that time, "Only the Interior Ministry is authorised to made statements about the country's security." And he warned that legal action would be taken against those who failed to comply.