August 05, 2009
Yemeni Editor Prevented from Life Saving Treatment Abroad.
Al Ayyam is one of the oldest and most respected newspapers in Yemen. As it began covering the repetitive massacres of Yemeni protesters in South Yemen, the paper faced outrageous targeting by the Yemeni regime, which prefers to keep these slaughters hushed up. (Eighteen protesters were killed in a single day when police opened fire on a protest in Zanzibar two weeks ago.)
al Tagheer published an Arabic statement by al Ayyam detailing the chronology of the events surrounding the closure of al Ayyam, the confiscation of its papers, assaults on its drivers and vendors, the violent police siege on the offices, the later arrest of protesters, and the prohibition of its editors from leaving Yemen, although the elder Mr. Bashrahil requires urgent medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, a follow up to his recent open heart surgery. The following is the CPJ"s statement from May; things just got worse after that:
New York, May 4, 2009--After confiscating thousands of copies of a critical independent newspaper, authorities laid siege today to the paper's offices in Aden, Yemen. The daily, Al-Ayyam, has been covering the ongoing conflict in the country's southern region.Bashraheel Bashraheel, general manager of Al-Ayyam, told CPJ that after three consecutive days of authorities confiscating thousands of copies of the newspaper, security forces today surrounded Al-Ayyam and prevented the distribution of all 70,000 copies of the paper. Staff members are allowed to leave the building but are being searched as they exit, Bashraheel said.
