The World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum have expressed serious concern at the upholding of a six-year jail sentence against journalist Abdel Karim Al Khaiwani, despite a presidential pardon having been granted to him in September 2008. Mr Al Khaiwani was jailed in June 2008 on charges of belonging to a terrorist organisation and planning terrorist attacks but was granted a presidential pardon and released in September. The original charge brought against him in 2007 was for publishing information liable to undermine army morale.

His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh
President of the Republic of Yemen
Sana'a, Republic of Yemen

3 February 2009

Your Excellency,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to express our serious concern at the upholding of a six-year jail sentence against journalist Abdel Karim Al Khaiwani, despite a presidential pardon having been granted to him in September 2008.

According to reports, on 26 January Yemen's Special Terrorist Court upheld a 6-year jail sentence handed down to Mr Al Khaiwani on 9 June 2008.  Mr Al Khaiwani, former editor-in-chief of the Al-Shoura newspaper, had received a presidential pardon in September 2008 and had also received assurances from the Minister of Justice and other officials that the case had been closed. He had not been summoned to give evidence to the Special Terrorist Court, nor had he been notified that the hearing was underway. The court reportedly did not consider Mr Al Khaiwani's appeal against the initial sentence.

Mr Al Khaiwani was jailed in June 2008 on charges of belonging to a terrorist organisation and planning terrorist attacks but was granted a presidential pardon and released in September. The original charge brought against him in 2007 was for publishing information liable to undermine army morale. Mr Al-Khaiwani, who has been abducted and imprisoned many times for his reporting, was jailed for nine months in 2004 after publishing articles critical of the state and the President.

We are seriously concerned that Mr Al Khaiwani has been sentenced to jail for his critical reporting. We respectfully remind you that imprisoning a journalist for carrying out his professional activities would constitute a clear breach of the right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous international conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We respectfully call on you to ensure that the presidential pardon granted to Mr Al Khaiwani is immediately reinstated and that all charges against him are dropped. We also urge you to ensure to take all necessary steps to ensure that in future your country fully respects international standards of free expression.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Gavin O'Reilly                                                             
President
World Association of Newspapers                                          

Xavier Vidal-Folch
President
World Editors Forum


WAN is the global organization for the newspaper industry, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The organization groups 18,000 newspapers in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 regional and world-wide press groups. WAN is non-governmental and non-profit. 


cc Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Mujawar
Justice Minister Ghazi Shaif al-Aghbari