Journalist Ahmed Maher launches hunger strike in UAE-run prison in Aden

ADEN, Jan. 03 (YPA) – The Yemeni journalist Ahmad Maher kidnapped in secret UAE-run detention centers in Aden, revealed delay of the fifth trial session set for him.

Journalist Ahmed Maher Tweeted: “The fifth trial session is set for me and now is canceled. I am still on hunger strike until death or standing before the judge in court.”

For his part, a source familiar with the case considered the repeated postponement an indication that the parties that kidnapped  “Maher” were unable to cook an appropriate charge and want to prolong his imprisonment.

This postponement comes after a session was scheduled  for last week after was delayed after  the prison administration refused to transfer journalist Maher from prison to the courthouse, under the pretext of the lack of petrol for the prison car, although Maher’s family expressed its willingness to bear the costs of transportation, but it did not receive a response from the concerned authorities.

Journalist Ahmed Maher, who was kidnapped by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC)’s militia STC in Aden, on malicious charges, began an open-ended hunger strike in protest  to the delay of his trial.

In early September, the STC militia published a video footage in which journalist Ahmed Maher claimed his responsibility for a number of recent terrorist operations due to forced confessions, about a month after he and his sister were arrested in front of their home in Aden.

On the sixth of last August, the STC militias arrested Ahmad Maher from his home in Dar Saad district, while the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate called on the “Al-Alimi government” to stand responsibly in front of this incident, release him and provide a safe environment for journalists.

E.M