Press freedom advocates condemn Yemen journalist imprisonment over government criticism News
Yarinya, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Press freedom advocates condemn Yemen journalist imprisonment over government criticism

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned in a statement on Monday the four-month prison sentence against Yemeni freelance journalist Aziz Al-Ahmadi for criticizing a government’s decisions on social media. The organization viewed this prison sentence as a threat to free reporting in Yemen and a violation of the right to freedom of speech.

CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said that Aziz Al-Ahmadi’s imprisonment sentence is part of a broader campaign of intimidation against journalists in Yemen, where “legal tools are being weaponized to silence critical reporting on local issues.” He also urged authorities to allow journalists to work freely without fear of retaliation. CPJ indicated that it had contacted local authorities regarding Al-Ahmadi’s case but hadn’t yet received a response.

The ruling against Aziz Al-Ahmadi was delivered on January 21 by the Ataq Primary Court in Shabwa, a province in the south of Yemen, after the prosecution accused him of spreading false information and inciting regional division through social media. This was related to a Facebook post the journalist made in August 2024. Here Al-Ahmadi questioned local authorities’ decision to rent privately owned land for a solar energy project instead of using public land, in addition to criticizing power outages in Shabwa province. Al-Ahmadi sustained his innocence of the charges brought against him and said he would pursue all legal means to prove it. Shabwa province is currently under the control of the Southern Transitional Council, a separatist group.

Freedom of expression is protected under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Furthermore, the United Nations (UN) developed a global plan to protect journalists worldwide, known as the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. This plan addresses the prevention of attacks against journalists, the protection of those in danger, and the accountability of those responsible for attacks targeting reporters. Despite some improvements in promoting a safer environment for journalists, the UN highlighted the emergence of new threats to freedom of speech and journalism. These include the increase of disinformation on social media and the misuse of the judicial system to prevent journalists from reporting on matters of public interest.

Similarly, a recent assessment by the Global Rights Project (GRIP) found that over 60 percent of countries worldwide have experienced a deterioration in their human rights situation. Yemen, facing a severe humanitarian crisis, received the lowest grade.

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