A Yemen Times journalist harassed by police

Reporters Without Borders today criticised police in Sanaa for having pulled Yemen Times reporter Hassan Al-Zaïdi from his car and confiscated his camera and film on 23 October after he had been covering a strike by students in the city. The police threatened the 29-year-old journalist with their guns as well as threatening to hit him. The incident was "a serious violation of the right to inform the public", Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard said, calling for the immediate return of the confiscated material and an internal police enquiry to identify the officers involved. The management of the English-language Yemen Times has complained about the incident in a letter to the Yemeni Journalists Union and to the interior minister, demanding an apology, return of the material and an enquiry.