Yemen Observer
The Yemen Observer is an English-language, triweekly newspaper published in the Republic of Yemen. It was founded in 1996 by Faris Sanabani, aide and press secretary of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Its editors include Editor-in-Chief, Mohammed al-Kibsi. Yemen Observer's feature writers are Abdul-Aziz Oudha, Faisal Darem, Afrah Nasser, Majid al-Kibsi, Shuaib al-Mosawa and Iscander al-Mamari.
Since 1996, the Yemen Observer Publishing House [1] has diversified dramatically from a single bi-weekly newspaper to a five-armed media institution, publishing both in English and in Arabic: Yemen Today. [2] , Arabia Felix. [3] , Sports, and Spectrum are examples for the company's fast and successful expansion.
Today, it has become the first English-speaking publishing house of the country, actively supporting Yemen in its socio-economic transition.
In that sense, the recently launched magazine Yemen Today [4] is the most dynamic branch of the Publishing House, promoting investment and tourism in Yemen, a country which has promising potential in this field.
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[edit] 2006 cartoon thumbnails and blasphemy trial
On 4 February 2006, the Yemen Observer carried two articles on Muslim reactions to the Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. The articles were accompanied by photographs showing 20-30,000 Yemeni women demonstrating against the cartoons, and empty shelves in a Sanaá supermarket with a sign informing customers that Danish products had been withdrawn. Also included were crossed-out thumbnail images of three of the Danish cartoons.
On 11 February 2006, former chief editor Mohammed Al-Asadi was arrested on charges of offending Islam. He was released on bail on 22 February. In a trial that began on 23 February, prosecution lawyers called for al-Asadi to be sentenced to death, for the paper to be closed and for all of its assets to be confiscated. Al-Asadi denied all charges and his defence team argued that the thumbnail images were accompanied by articles that condemned the cartoons and reported reactions from across the Islamic world. The prosecution claimed that the charges rested on the pictures alone, and that the accompanying articles should not be taken into account. After his release, Al-Asadi founded the Yemen Mirror. [5]
[edit] Temporary suspension of license to publish
During the trial and for nearly six months afterward, the Yemen Observer had its license to publish suspended by Yemen's Ministry of Information, but its staff continued to produce material and publish it on the paper's website. The paper is now back in print and can be found on news stands in urban areas across Yemen.
[edit] Yemen's Youth Revolution
The outbreak of the Youth Revolution in Yemen on 3 February 2011 effected the Yemen Times too. Particularly critical articles on the policy of Ali Abdullah Saleh and the often violent and brutal crackdows on peaceful unarmed demonstrators brought trouble to the journalists.
Afrah Nasser particularly had been targeted at after she was pointed as one of the world's most read and rewarded young female bloggers by Time Magazine in March 2011 - her blog has several critical articles spreading her views on the lack of democracy and prosperity in Yemen. Soo after Afrah got death threatening calls by telephone. This repeated until she left for Sweden for conferences and courses for young reporters organised by Global Voices Network mid June 2011. Her family got targeted too in a phone call she received in Stockholm which prompted her to seek asylum in that country.
[edit] External links
- Yemen Observer official website
- Yemen Today official website
- Call to reinstate papers closed in cartoon row – by Brian Whitaker, Guardian Unlimited, 11 February 2006
- Yemen Journalists Fight Cartoon Crackdown – by Nabil Sultan, Inter Press Service, 22 February 2006
- Yemen editor 'faces death calls' – a BBC News report, 8 March 2006
- Lawyers Demand Capital Penalty for Al-Asadi and Observer Close – a Yemen Observer report, 8 March 2006
