Journalists attacked during protests in Yemen

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the attacks on at least eight journalists over the weekend by armed forces loyal to outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The clashes left nine people dead on Saturday. 

“These attacks indicate how tenuous the situation remains for journalists to work in Yemen,” said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa Programme Coordinator. “Despite the political solutions being offered to address the crisis, journalists are still being attacked. We call on Yemeni authorities to allow journalists to carry out their work unharmed and without threat.”

Ahmed al-Musebli, a presenter for the pro-opposition broadcaster Suhail TV, was beaten and arrested by security forces on Saturday.

Ahmed al-Jabr, a journalist with the official Saba news agency, was attacked by pro-Saleh forces while covering the protests on Saturday. The journalist was injured under one eye, and his car windows were smashed, news reports said. A freelance journalist, Walid Ablan, was also assaulted at the same protest.

On Saturday, Suhail TV cameraman Kamal al-Mahfady was reporting on protests in Taiz, the country’s third largest city, when he was attacked by the armed forces. He sustained a head injury. BBC reporter Abdallah Ghoraib was also attacked by pro-Saleh forces on Saturday. Last September, he was also beaten while covering a protest.

Three other journalists were attacked by Republican Guards at a protest in Sana’a on Sunday. The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate said the soldiers pulled at one reporter’s clothes, threatened to beat another and confiscated three cameras.