Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate has called for the immediate release of nine Yemeni journalists detained by the Houthi group in Sana’a. The syndicate expressed concern over their poor detention conditions and the violations of their rights.
The syndicate stated that these journalists have been arbitrarily detained for years simply for doing their journalistic work, noting that some have been sentenced to long prison terms. The statement highlighted the case of journalist Mohammed Al-Mayahi, who was arrested last September and sentenced to one and a half years in prison for his articles on social media platforms, demanding his immediate release.
The syndicate also pointed to the arrest of several journalists last May, including Walid Ghaleb, deputy head of the syndicate’s branch in Hudaidah, along with Hassan Ziyad, photographers Abdul-Jabbar Ziyad and Abdul-Aziz Al-Noum, and media activists Asim Mohammed and Abdul-Majeed Al-Zailai, who all remain in detention. The journalist Waheed Al-Soufi has been a victim of enforced disappearance since April 2015, while journalist Nabil Al-Saddawi has been in detention since the same year.
The syndicate held the Houthi group fully responsible for the continued detention and repression of journalists, noting that dozens of media outlets have been shut down and hundreds of journalists displaced.
In a related context, the syndicate appealed to the legitimate Yemeni government and the leadership of the Southern Transitional Council to release journalist Naseh Shaker, who has been held by the Security Belt Forces in Aden since November 2023, emphasizing the importance of ensuring a safe environment for journalistic work.
