“Yemeni Journalists” Condemn Raid on “Aden Al-Ghad” and Call for End to Violations Against the Press
Yemen Monitor/ Newsroom:
The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) expressed its strong condemnation of the raid on the headquarters of the “Aden Al-Ghad” newspaper by forces affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in the temporary capital, Aden. This incident was accompanied by the arrest of the newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief, colleague Fathi Bin Lazraq, and the forcible closure of the headquarters.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Syndicate said it is following with great concern the “raid, closure, and expulsion of employees by force of arms,” considering it a flagrant violation of press freedom and the public’s right to access information. It deemed the action a dangerous transgression of all local and international laws and covenants that guarantee freedom of expression.
The Syndicate held the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which is in security control of Aden city, fully responsible for the safety of colleague Bin Lazraq and all the newspaper’s staff, and for the damages resulting from this arbitrary measure.
The YJS called for the immediate reopening of the newspaper and enabling its team to carry out their work without restrictions, along with holding the entities and individuals involved in the incident accountable. It stressed that the continuation of such practices threatens the future of the free press in Yemen.
The Syndicate also renewed its demand to provide a safe environment for journalistic work that respects the constitution and law and preserves the dignity of journalists, affirming that protecting freedom of opinion and expression is a shared responsibility falling on the legitimate authorities and the international community.
It is worth noting that security forces arrested journalist Fathi Bin Lazraq on Saturday morning during the raid on the newspaper’s headquarters, though they later released him, while the headquarters remains closed.
Bin Lazraq had published posts and a video on his Facebook page documenting the moment of the raid. He is known for his critical stances on corruption and the situation in Aden, and for turning his platform into a venue for receiving citizens’ complaints.
Aden city witnesses a wide presence of military and security formations affiliated with the STC, which have previously carried out restrictions and arrests against journalists and media professionals over the past years.
