Journalists reject new draft of press and publications law

Journalists in Yemen have rejected a new draft of the press and publications law put forward by the Ministry of Information (MoI), saying it is even more restrictive than the existing bill which has been in force since 1990. IRIN learned of the rejection on Tuesday which coincidentally marks World Press Freedom Day. At a meeting held at the Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate (YJS) in the capital, Sana on Thursday, members demanded a rewrite of the draft law. "We need a press law that complies with developments and changes in the world. The Ministry of Information prepared this draft without consultation with us," YJS chairman, Mahboob Ali, told IRIN in Sana. The situation had looked set to improve when Yemen’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, specifically demanded the removal of a clause allowing the imprisonment of journalists under certain circumstances, in June 2004. Although in the new draft, jail sentences have been removed, journalists object to clauses forbidding them from being able to “criticise the head of the state” or “publishing or exchanging anything that directly and personally prejudices monarchs and heads of brotherly and friendly states.” Reporters say they are also concerned over penalties they could face under the country’s Penal Code, particularly the death sentence. "We need the penalties in the Penal Code on journalists to be removed too,” Ali said. “A journalist can be fined, sentenced to two years in jail or even death. This is more dangerous,” he added. The death sentence can in theory be applied in cases where information related to national security or state secrets are published. The 1990 law bars criticism of the president and lists a wide range of vaguely worded offences that can land a journalist in court and prison, according to international media watchdog organisations. One such clause is Article 103 which prohibits journalists from publishing articles that "cause tribal, sectarian, racial, regional or ancestral discrimination" or "undermine public morals or prejudices the dignity of individuals or personal freedoms." Ali also called for the liberalisation of the broadcast media which, he says, is still being monopolised by the state. He is lobbying for a percentage of newspapers to be independently owned. In the past, organisations such as the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have expressed concern over actions taken against Yemeni journalists. "These prosecutions can only be viewed as a flagrant attempt to silence and intimidate journalists in violation of international press freedom standards," said CPJ director, Ann Cooper. "It's time for the government to back up its rhetoric about respect for press freedom with concrete action to halt this judicial harassment." Yemen’s Prime Minister, Abdulqader Bajamal, had said earlier that the draft law should go first to the cabinet and then be debated by the YJS and other NGOs before being approved by the cabinet and parliament. "There is no need for all this big fuss as it is just a draft, open to revision and amendments. Why waste time in such a hustle and bustle? Journalists should instead contribute to the improvement of the draft law as there is still a chance," legal officer at the MoI, Fathia Abdulwas'e, told IRIN. The YJS has set up a committee to start drafting a press and publications law themselves to be presented to the MoI in the near future.