BAD TO WORSE FOR YEMENI JOURNALISTS: PRESS COURT

UNCLAS SANAA 002014 SIPDIS SENSITIVE FOR NEA/PPD, NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KPAO YM SUBJECT: BAD TO WORSE FOR YEMENI JOURNALISTS: PRESS COURT ISSUES FIRST CONVICTION REF: SANAA 2000 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY. On October 31, Yemen's recently established Special Press and Publications Court issued its first guilty verdict. The court found Washington-based Yemeni-American writer Munir al-Mawri and Yemeni independent journalist Samir Jubran guilty of "the crime of criticizing the President of the Republic" for a 2008 article published in Jubran's newspaper, al-Masdar. Civil society organizations and other independent journalists condemned the ruling, which Jubran is now appealing. The ruling opens a new front in the Yemeni government's assault on press freedom as it seeks to stifle criticism of its handling of the nation's multiple crises. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) On October 31, Yemen's Special Press and Publication Court sentenced in absentia Munir al-Mawri, a Washington-based Yemeni-American writer and Sharq al-Awsat correspondent, to two years in prison and banned him "permanently" from practicing journalism in Yemen (reftel). The court also ordered Samir Jubran, as the editor and publisher of independent newspaper al-Masdar which featured Mawri's article, to resign from his position and refrain from practicing journalism for one year. (Note: Jubran is a good Embassy contact who participated in a U.S. Department of State International Visitor program in June 2009. End Note.) ¶3. (U) The judge cited for violations an article by Mawri entitled "Weapon of Mass Destruction," published in al-Masdar on November 25, 2008. In the article, Mawri wrote that Yemen's many problems -- a southern rebellion, a northern insurgency, al-Qaeda infiltration -- "are only symptoms of a serious disease, the source of all of Yemen's pains: President Ali Abdullah Saleh ... (He) can be described without exaggeration as a weapon of mass destruction ... His irresponsible behavior may tear the country apart and cast the Yemeni people's future into the dust." Mawri touched on many sensitive subjects, including Saleh's supposed frail health, his alleged stage-managing of the succession to ensure that his son becomes president, and his responsibility for the corruption endemic in the Yemeni government. ¶4. (U) The court found that Mawri's story violated Article 103 of Yemen's 1990 Press and Publications Law, which forbids "anything that infringes upon the dignity of individuals and individual freedom by the propagation of misinformation or personal defamation." ¶5. (U) This conviction is the first issued by the Special Press and Publications Court, which the Supreme Judicial Council established in May 2009. Civil-society activists condemned the creation of the court, seeing it as a mechanism for government harassment and intimidation of journalists. Justice Minister Ghazi al-Aghbari explained that the decision to create a special court dedicated to press issues "came within the framework of the reform agenda adopted by the Ministry of Justice in order to deal with press-related cases expeditiously." More than 150 pending cases that involved journalists and media outlets were referred to the new court. (Comment: President Saleh's alleged personal animosity toward Mawri may have pushed Mawri's case to the top of the court's crowded docket. End Comment.) ¶6. (U) Before the October 31 conviction, the court had issued only one ruling, the July 20 acquittal of Sami Ghalib, editor of the independent newspaper al-Nidaa and alumnus of the U.S. Department of State's Edward R. Murrow journalist exchange program. The Ministry of Religious Endowments had sued Ghalib over articles published in 2006 alleging corruption in the Ministry's hajj and umrah activities. However, the court ruled that the articles in question "did not contain any insults, and were grounded in the constitutional right to criticize." That ruling placated some contacts' worries about the new court, but Mawri and Jubran's convictions have rekindled fears that it will be an instrument for harassing journalists. ¶7. (U) The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, political opposition coalition Joint Meeting Parties, NGO Women Journalists without Chains and other civil-society organizations issued statements denouncing the ruling. Jubran told al-Jazeera on October 31 that the article only criticized President Saleh's leadership and did not constitute personal defamation. He said, "Banning a journalist from writing for life? We were not expecting such an odd ruling." Mawri spoke with BBC Arabic from Washington on October 31, denying that the article insulted President Saleh and saying, "This ruling is an insult to the President and the Yemeni Republic and the Yemeni people." ¶8. (SBU) COMMENT. The ruling against al-Masdar confirms the fears that independent journalists have expressed to EmbOffs since the May 2009 establishment of the press court. With its first conviction, the court becomes another weapon in the Yemeni government's arsenal as it continues its indefatigable assault on the independent media. The court's inability to distinguish political criticism from character defamation sends a chilling message to would-be critics of President Saleh, derailing what could be a serious national discussion through the media of the direction of current government policies. END COMMENT. SECHE