Committee to Protect Journalists Condemns Houthi Abduction Campaign Targeting Four Media Workers in Western Yemen
Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has strongly condemned the abduction of four journalists and media workers by the Houthi group in the coastal city of Al-Hudaidah, western Yemen. CPJ also denounced the sentencing of prominent journalist Mohammed Al-Meyahi to one and a half years in prison for criticizing the group’s leader.
According to local sources concerned with press freedom, the abducted individuals include:
- Abdul Jabbar Ziyad, a freelance photographer
- Hassan Ziyad, a journalist with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed (The New Arab)
- Abdulaziz Al-Num, director of Sourah Media Production Center
- Waleed Ali Ghaleb, deputy head of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate
They were arrested between May 21 and May 23.
In a related development, the Specialized Criminal Court in Sana’a on May 24 sentenced Al-Meyahi, who had previously been forcibly disappeared for over a month after publishing articles critical of the Houthis. He was also ordered to pay bail of five million Yemeni riyals and sign a pledge to cease all journalistic activity, with the threat of having the pledge confiscated if violated.
Sarah Qadadah, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator, stated that these actions reflect the Houthis’ escalation in suppressing press freedom. She called for the immediate release of all detained journalists and an end to the exploitation of the judiciary to restrict independent voices.
Al-Meyahi’s trial represents a clear violation of Article 13 of Yemen’s Press and Publications Law, which protects journalistic freedom of expression. The case has sparked widespread criticism over the Houthis’ establishment of parallel judicial systems that lack neutrality and justice.
CPJ reaffirmed the need to respect the rights of media professionals and to end the repeated attacks that threaten press freedom in Yemen.
