Bloggers Unite Action: Save Abdulkarim Al-Khaiwani

Posted by Beth on May 15th, 2008 filed in Blogs, General, International, Islamofascism, Journalism, Petitions, Politics, UN Yemen

I’m re-posting this for Bloggers Unite for Human Rights today in hopes of getting some more eyes on this issue, and also to make sure you’ve gone to sign the letter to the Yemeni government and international human rights groups expressing opposition to the Yemeni governments suppression of freedom. Please also see this post with Abdulkarim Al-Khaiwani’s thanks to those who have and who will sign the letter.
Please DO THE RIGHT THING - stand up for democracy and freedom.
Re-posted text follows.

URGENT help needed, via Jane at Armies of Liberation, who is the go-to for news about the Yemeni dictatorship. A prominent pro-democracy journalist in Yemen is facing a jail sentence–again:

Renowned journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani is one of Yemen’s most prominent democracy advocates - for which he has paid a steep price. His paper has been closed, his website blocked, and his children threatened. He is now due to be sentenced on May 21 for “insulting the president” and “demoralizing the military.”

During his arrest in June of 2007, Al-Khaiwani was beaten and his six-year-old daughter slapped unconscious. While released on bail in August, Al-Khaiwani was kidnapped and tortured by thugs who threatened his life if he continued to write about Yemen’s president.

As al-Khaiwani’s sentencing approaches, there is growing fear a guilty verdict will open the door for a brutal crackdown on Yemen’s already-endangered journalistic community. Join with al-Khawiani’s supporters in Yemen and throughout the world as we urge the Yemeni government not to imprison journalists for their work.

Al-Khaiwani stands on principle for free speech. When he was arrested in 2004 (for “insulting the president”), prison guards broke his jaw - yet he still refused to agree to stop writing. In June of 2007, he was re-arrested on similar charges and dragged outside in his underwear. After being released on bail, he abducted by gunmen who broke his fingers threatened to kill him if he “wrote another word against the president or national unity.”

Civil rights advocates inside Yemen and abroad believe the charges against al-Khaiwani are unsubstantiated and simply punishment for his critical reporting. In fact, one of the main pieces of evidence used against him by prosecutors is an unpublished article criticizing Yemen’s president.

All I ask is for you to send a letter–it’s already filled out, you just have to send it. You won’t get spammed or anything; you can opt-in for updates from them about freedom of the press in Yemen if you want. (Or you can just read Jane’s blog, like I do, and get other news as well, like the latest on the USS Cole bombers.) You can keep your name off the public list, too.

Jane tells me this is due to get some major media coverage in the region, so every bit of support is needed. Just one minute of your time, please. Click and send the letter.