NEW YORK, May 4, 2009: After confiscating thousands of copies of a critical independent newspaper, authorities laid siege today to the paper’s offices in Aden, Yemen. The daily, Al-Ayyam, has been covering the ongoing conflict in the country’s southern region, informs Committee to Protect Journalists, CPS, Monday.
Bashraheel Bashraheel, general manager of Al-Ayyam, told CPJ that after three consecutive days of authorities confiscating thousands of copies of the newspaper, security forces today surrounded Al-Ayyam and prevented the distribution of all 70.000 copies of the paper. Staff members are allowed to leave the building but are being searched as they exit, Bashraheel said.
– We call on the authorities to end the siege of Al-Ayyam and to withdraw all its forces immediately, said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, and added: – Al-Ayyam and its staff are exercising their journalistic duty to cover an ongoing conflict. The government must not target them because of their coverage.
Dozens of protesters gathered Monday in front of the besieged paper’s offices to protest the government’s action, with the police eventually dispersing the demonstrators, Al-Ayyam reported on its Web site.
On May 1, an armed group that Bashraheel believes was acting on behalf of the authorities stopped a vehicle carrying copies of Al-Ayyam to the capital, Sana’a, and burned 16.500 copies, according to a statement by the newspaper. On Sunday, military checkpoints outside Aden prevented 50.000 copies of the newspaper from reaching readers in other parts of the country.
