Women Journalists without chains announced that 2009 distinguished from other previous years with dangerous

and unprecedented infringements that reached 256 infringements varied between direct hits, kidnapping and enforced disappearance for journalists, forbid publishing newspapers and siege them by soldiers and weapons and prisoned and judgement.

WJWC cleared in its annual report about press freedom in Yemen at 2009 that an unconstitutional and exceptional court was established specialized with journalists cases with decision from justice ministry like unconstitutional and exceptional court specialized for terrorism cases. WJWC noticed that this court is specialized for judging journalists and newspaper on opinion and distribution cases and it is designed according to believe that press is devil and a criminal work to specify the role of judge just to specify the sentences only.

WJWC pointed that a group sentences was executed for journalists by this court that referred 150 publications cases according to media minister declaration. This accusation was directed in one case to more than journalist and editor from governorates far away hundreds of kilometers from their stay.

WJWC mentioned that the new about infringements this year is that Alayam newspaper had for the past three years the high percentage of infringements that faced its entire staff even the guards of the newspaper. It also faced, this year, additional variety of infringements worse and atrocious than before and no newspaper in the world faced like this infringements not in Yemen only.

WJWC director Tawakkol Karman said that 2009 was the year of open war against press center and all who belong to it or has a relationship or work with it. War affected almost daily the newspaper, edit directors, editors and reporters in addition to printing houses, distributers, distributing cars and sales points.

Tawakkol Karman added,“It is unpleasant that formal infringements for this year are various qualitatively and quantitatively. All of them happened parallel with formal infringements cases for all peaceful expressing forms in its protest and demonstration sides.”
Tawakkol Karman continued “these formal infringements exercised in the same tin=me and places that journalists presented to cover the protests and exercised latterly against journalists on their press coverage to that activities.”

Tawakkol Karman expressed her sorry that ministries of telecommunication and media are the one who forefront of formal sides list for most infringed side for opinion and expression freedom though they are the sides that must guarantee the freedom of press and the flow of information and its circulation. They also guarantee the freedom of knowledge and communication.