VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHYN #2014/01 3080932
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 040932Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY SANAA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3136

UNCLAS SANAA 002014 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
FOR NEA/PPD, NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KPAO YM
SUBJECT: BAD TO WORSE FOR YEMENI JOURNALISTS: PRESS COURT 
ISSUES FIRST CONVICTION 
 
REF: SANAA 2000 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY. On October 31, Yemen's recently established 
Special Press and Publications Court issued its first guilty 
verdict.  The court found Washington-based Yemeni-American 
writer Munir al-Mawri and Yemeni independent journalist Samir 
Jubran guilty of "the crime of criticizing the President of 
the Republic" for a 2008 article published in Jubran's 
newspaper, al-Masdar.  Civil society organizations and other 
independent journalists condemned the ruling, which Jubran is 
now appealing.  The ruling opens a new front in the Yemeni 
government's assault on press freedom as it seeks to stifle 
criticism of its handling of the nation's multiple crises. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On October 31, Yemen's Special Press and Publication 
Court sentenced in absentia Munir al-Mawri, a 
Washington-based Yemeni-American writer and Sharq al-Awsat 
correspondent, to two years in prison and banned him 
"permanently" from practicing journalism in Yemen (reftel). 
The court also ordered Samir Jubran, as the editor and 
publisher of independent newspaper al-Masdar which featured 
Mawri's article, to resign from his position and refrain from 
practicing journalism for one year.  (Note: Jubran is a good 
Embassy contact who participated in a U.S. Department of 
State International Visitor program in June 2009.  End Note.) 
 
¶3. (U) The judge cited for violations an article by Mawri 
entitled "Weapon of Mass Destruction," published in al-Masdar 
on November 25, 2008.  In the article, Mawri wrote that 
Yemen's many problems -- a southern rebellion, a northern 
insurgency, al-Qaeda infiltration -- "are only symptoms of a 
serious disease, the source of all of Yemen's pains: 
President Ali Abdullah Saleh ... (He) can be described 
without exaggeration as a weapon of mass destruction ... His 
irresponsible behavior may tear the country apart and cast 
the Yemeni people's future into the dust."  Mawri touched on 
many sensitive subjects, including Saleh's supposed frail 
health, his alleged stage-managing of the succession to 
ensure that his son becomes president, and his responsibility 
for the corruption endemic in the Yemeni government. 
 
¶4. (U) The court found that Mawri's story violated Article 
103 of Yemen's 1990 Press and Publications Law, which forbids 
"anything that infringes upon the dignity of individuals and 
individual freedom by the propagation of misinformation or 
personal defamation." 
 
¶5. (U) This conviction is the first issued by the Special 
Press and Publications Court, which the Supreme Judicial 
Council established in May 2009.  Civil-society activists 
condemned the creation of the court, seeing it as a mechanism 
for government harassment and intimidation of journalists. 
Justice Minister Ghazi al-Aghbari explained that the decision 
to create a special court dedicated to press issues "came 
within the framework of the reform agenda adopted by the 
Ministry of Justice in order to deal with press-related cases 
expeditiously."  More than 150 pending cases that involved 
journalists and media outlets were referred to the new court. 
 (Comment: President Saleh's alleged personal animosity 
toward Mawri may have pushed Mawri's case to the top of the 
court's crowded docket. End Comment.) 
 
¶6. (U) Before the October 31 conviction, the court had issued 
only one ruling, the July 20 acquittal of Sami Ghalib, editor 
of the independent newspaper al-Nidaa and alumnus of the U.S. 
Department of State's Edward R. Murrow journalist exchange 
program.  The Ministry of Religious Endowments had sued 
Ghalib over articles published in 2006 alleging corruption in 
the Ministry's hajj and umrah activities.  However, the court 
ruled that the articles in question "did not contain any 
insults, and were grounded in the constitutional right to 
criticize."  That ruling placated some contacts' worries 
about the new court, but Mawri and Jubran's convictions have 
rekindled fears that it will be an instrument for harassing 
journalists. 
 
¶7. (U) The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, political opposition 
coalition Joint Meeting Parties, NGO Women Journalists 
without Chains and other civil-society organizations issued 
statements denouncing the ruling.  Jubran told al-Jazeera on 
October 31 that the article only criticized President Saleh's 
leadership and did not constitute personal defamation.  He 
said, "Banning a journalist from writing for life?  We were 
not expecting such an odd ruling."  Mawri spoke with BBC 
Arabic from Washington on October 31, denying that the 
article insulted President Saleh and saying, "This ruling is 
an insult to the President and the Yemeni Republic and the 
Yemeni people." 
 
¶8. (SBU) COMMENT.  The ruling against al-Masdar confirms the 
fears that independent journalists have expressed to EmbOffs 
since the May 2009 establishment of the press court.  With 
its first conviction, the court becomes another weapon in the 
Yemeni government's arsenal as it continues its indefatigable 
assault on the independent media.  The court's inability to 
distinguish political criticism from character defamation 
sends a chilling message to would-be critics of President 
Saleh, derailing what could be a serious national discussion 
through the media of the direction of current government 
policies. END COMMENT. 
SECHE