Sana’a: Yemen’s minister of information has ordered the suspension of the circulation of the biggest state-run newspaper in protest against the Al Houthi intervention into the editorial policy of the newspaper.
While tightening grip on government’s institutes in the capital and many other provinces, the Al Houthis stormed Al Thawra daily on September 17, dismissed its editor over corruption allegations and replaced him with an allied journalist.
The Yemeni capital has been under Al Houthi control since September 21 when they mounted a quick blitz gaining seizure of key government and military offices.
Angered by Al Houthis’ actions at Al Thawra, Nadia Al Saqqaf ordered on Tuesday the provincial offices of the newspaper to halt distribution until Al Houthis leave, according to a statement carried by the official Saba news agency.
But Al Houthis have already denied many calls by national and international human rights organisations to end their seizure of the newspaper, claiming that they stormed the newspaper to dislodge “corrupt” officials and audit the newspaper’s spending. Osama Sari, Al Houthi-linked journalist, said that the Al Houthis’ Revolutionary Committee has the right to monitor the financial land administrative activists of the newspaper as to prevent corruption.
“As a representative of the 21 September Revolution, the Revolutionary Oversight Committee is exercising its regular observatory duty to prevent financial and administrative corruption,” he said on a post on his Facebook page.
Al Saqqaf said that the Al Houthis control of Al Thawra had nothing to do with fighting corruption in the official institutes. “The Al Houthis continue to control editorial policy of Al Thawra newspaper, what does that have to do with fighting financial corruption?” he wondered on a tweet on December 22.
The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, the biggest officially recognised organisation that constitute hundreds of journalists in Yemen, have strongly urged the Al Houthi fighters to pull out of the newspaper’s main office. Marwan Dammaj, the syndicate’s secretary general and deputy editor of the newspaper said that Al Thwara is still being “hijacked” by the Al Houthis.
Dammaj told reporters on Tuesday that when Al Houthis stormed the newspaper, they asked editors to publish stories commending their militiamen and signalled to using weapons if journalists refused to follow their commands. Dammaj said that the Al Houthis were incited into controlling the newspaper by some affiliated journalists from within the newspaper.
Following their control, the newspaper gave much coverage to the activities of Al Houthi’s militias such as crushing Al Qaida militants in Arhab district on the capital’s edges and impounding many wine factories in the capital. Journalists, like Osama Sari, replaced staff members who protest against Al Houthis control of the newspaper.
Rarely speaking to official media, Saleh Al Samad, a member of the group and Yemen president’s political adviser, wrote a regular column, glorifying the group’s alleged achievements in restoring stability in the capital.
At the same time, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) sent an appeal on Monday to the leader of Al Houthis, Abdul Malek Al Houthi, urging him to put an end to “incitement” against journalists and ask his supporters to pull out of Al Thawra.
“We call on Al Houthi to end the occupation of media and to stop threatening journalists who criticise his movement. This is a dangerous path and we hold him personally responsible for the safety and well-being of the journalists working for these media.” Jim Boumelha, IFJ president, said in a statement on the or website.
