Kidnapped journalists sent to Specialized Criminal Court, WJWC expresses deep concern

Kidnapped journalists sent to Specialized Criminal Court, WJWC expresses deep concern

Houthi-Saleh militias have sent 10 abducted journalists to the Specialized Criminal Court in the capital Sana’a on Wednesday in preparation for their trial.

Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) has expressed deep concern over the referral, saying any verdict against journalists would be null and void.

A pro-Houthi court has recently issued a warrant for transferring ten journalists, who have been in the detention centers of the coup for more than two years, to the rebel-controlled Specialized Criminal Court, according to informed legal source.

The transferred journalists are Abd al-Khaliq Emran, Akram al-Walidi, Tawfiq al-Mansouri, Hisham al-Yusufi, Hisham Tarmoum, Haitham al-Shehab, Hasan Annab, Essam Balghaith, Salah al-Qaidi and Harith Hamid.

The Houthi militia and forces loyal to ousted president Saleh had launched a campaign of kidnappings against coup-opposing journalists, putting them in jails, preventing them from being visited for long periods and exposing them to the worst forms of torture, which led to the deterioration of their health.

For its part, WJWC has expressed deep concern over the referral of the 10 journalists, stressing that any verdict against journalists would be null and void.

In a statement issued in this regard, The Yemeni human rights defender condemns the militias for their hostile approach to journalists and media professionals, pointing out that these militias have not only imprisoned them and practiced the worst forms of torture against them, but also bring them to unfair trials.

Women Journalists Without Chains calls on all human rights organizations, especially the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) to exert pressure on the militias to release the detained journalists.

 

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