Gulf | Yemen
Court annuls minister's decision to close paper
A Yemeni court on Saturday ordered that a decision last month by the Minister of Information, Hassan Al Lawzi, to cancel the licence of an independent newspaper be annulled.
- By Nasser Arrabyee, Correspondent
- Published: 21:48 May 3, 2008
- Image Credit: EPA
- Editor-in-chief of Al Wasat weekly, Jamal Ammar, appears at a court in the Yemeni capital.
Sana'a: A Yemeni court on Saturday ordered that a decision last month by the Minister of Information, Hassan Al Lawzi, to cancel the licence of an independent newspaper be annulled.
The court fined the Ministry of Information 50,000 riyals (about Dh925) for interfering with judicial powers by sidestepping the courts.
The Ministry of Information requested an appeal of the verdict.
The editor-in-chief of the independent weekly Al Wasat, Jamal Ammar, commented the verdict was a victory for press freedom.
"We felt the decision was a political one from the start, but we appealed to the courts because we wanted the verdict to become a precedent for everyone," Ammar said.
The Ministry of Information forced the independent weekly to close by cancelling its licence, a step that was widely condemned in Yemen.
The ministry accused the paper of publishing materials prohibited by law, and offending Yemen's relations with its neighbour, Saudi Arabia.
The editor and the publisher filed a lawsuit against the ministry for interfering with judicial powers by taking the step to close the paper without using the courts.
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