Yemen
Press court bans journalistPosted Nov 11 2009
Munir Mawari, a Yemeni journalist based in Washington who contributes to Al-Masdar, was sentenced to two years in prison Oct. 31 and banned from practicing journalism in Yemen by the Press and Publications Court in Sana’a. The court, established in May, found Mawari guilty on charges of defamation of the president. These charges relate to an article of Mawari’s that criticized President Salleh’s policy and leadership.
Also convicted on the same charges was Al-Masdar editor, Samir Jubran. Jubran was sentenced to a one-year jail term and was banned from running his paper for a year. Al-Masdar has said it will appeal the verdict, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Mawari, who has lived in the U.S. since 1994 and was tried in absentia, told CPJ that the verdict is “message aimed at terrorizing journalists and preventing them from writing about the president.”