Two journalists banned by Yemen court

Sanna: A newspaper editor and a journalist have been banned from writing for one month by a Yemeni court who found them guilty of demeaning Islam by reprinting controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

The managing editor of Al Hurriya received a four month suspended sentence, along with reporter Yehiya Al Abdel.

The journalists claim to have republished the controversial cartoons to show how insulting they were and will appeal the verdict, Khaled Al-Ansi, their lawyer, said. “We will appeal the verdict despite it being the most lenient handed out in this case, but we will appeal the guilty conviction.''

Earlier this month, Editor Mohammad Al-Assadi of the English newspaper Yemen Observer, was fined 500,000 rials.

The satirical caricatures that provoked outrage and protests among Muslims around the world first appeared in a Danish daily in September 2005.