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November 26, 2006

Yemen: Editor Jailed But Bailed Over Muslim Cartoons

News from Agence France Presse, BBC, Arab News, Gulf Times, News 24, Associated Press, the Jurist and News.com.au.

In September last year, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published a series of 12 cartoon images of the founder of Islam, Mohammed. The paper had asked artists to submit pictures of Mohammed, and had published those it considered to be the best. The reason for their ddecision arose from the dilemma of a Danish author, Kare Blultgen, who had written a book for schoolchildren on the life of Mohammed. The author could not find any artists who were willing to illustrate his book. Most of those he approached were fearful of Muslim extremists.

The book was published, with illustrations, but this never attracted attention in the Muslim world. The issue of the printed newspaper cartoons were highlighted in the Muslim world after a Danish cleric Abu Laban, in conjunction with Ahmed Akkiri, formed a delegation to take the pictures to the Middle East. Dishonestly, they also brought along three other pictures, which had nothing to do with Jyllands-Posten. One of these additional images, which they told Muslim leaders was an image of Mohammed as a pig, was actually a picture of a winning contestant at a French "pig-squealing contest".

In the furore that followed, protests took place in February around the world. In Lebanon, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia and "Palestine", the protests took on a violent dimension. At least five people were killed in Pakistan, and many more were killed in Nigeria, where churches were burned, and Christians attacked. In all about 50 people died as a result of Abu Laban's agitations.

The cartoonists themselves have lived in fear, under police protection, since the cartoon row exploded. In May, Al Qaeda announced that it had dispatched a group of assassins to travel to Denmark to kill the cartoonists.

Several editors lost their jobs, but prosecutions against editors and publishers in the West for showing the cartoons all came to nothing. In Yemen, however, a trial has continued since March, and it only ended on Saturday. Kamal al-Aalafi is editor-in-chief of the Arabic Language newspaper al-Rai al-Aam. He reprinted the Danish cartoons, claiming during his trial that he did it to inform his readership of what the fuss was about, and not to insult Muslims.

The editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper was charged under Article 103 of Yemen's Press & Publications Law (1990). He was found guilty, and was sentenced to a year in jail, with the ordering of his newspaper to be closed down for six months. He has also been banned from writing for six months.

Two other editors of Yemini newspapers are also facing similar charges. The editors of the Yemen Observer and al-Hurriya also reproduced the images.

The president of Yemen, Ali Abdallah Saleh, has ordered that he will scrap any jail terms for journalists convicted of vilations in publishing. As a result of this decree, about two hours after Kamal al-Aalafi was convicted at the court in Sanaa, the capital, attorney general Abdullah al-Olfi ordered his release.

Both the al-Rai al-Aam newspaper and the English-lanfuage Yemen Observer were earlier suspended from publishing for six months by the Yemeni information ministry. Whether the suspension of publication by the information ministry will count as "time served" or whether the paper will now face another six months' ban is unclear.

What is clear is that Yemen, a so-called ally in the "war on terror", has effectively banned an editor from writing for six months, the sort of punishment once popular in Stalinist regimes. At least 100 journalists in Yemen have undergone harassment over the past year, states Yemen's Center of Training and Press Freedoms Protection, an independent body. These harassments have ranged from beatings and arrests to kidnappings. One editor was subjected to a letter-bomb which wounded him.

Kamal al-Aalafi has said that he will be appealing against the sentence.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 26, 2006 9:37 PM

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