YEMEN Press Agency

Journalists held protest demanding release of their detained colleagues in Hadhramaut

HADHRAMAUT, July 11 (YPA) – A number of journalists and activists in Hadhramaut province held a vigil on Saturday demanding the release of two journalists detained by the authorities in the province.

In a statement at a vigil in front of the provincial public office, the protesters called on the security authorities to release the journalist Bakir and his companions, who have been detained for more than a month and a half without any legal justification.

The statement said that Bakir and his companions (Ahmed Al-Yazidi, Fahmy Ba’afia) have been in military intelligence prisons for more than 40 days without clear evidence condemning them.

The statement condemned the military intelligence monitoring room that track and pursue journalists, activists and opinion leaders, in an attempt by the executive branch to confiscate the word, break the pen and narrow the margin of freedom.

The protesters considered the arrest as a enforced disappearance in violation of international laws and conventions, and a flagrant violation of human rights.
They threatened to continue to escalate by all means of expression, unless their fellow journalists were released, and rejected all acts of repression and intimidation against journalists in Hadhramaut.

Journalists in the southern provinces, which are  under coalition control are constantly being arrested and assassinated.

E.M