Houthi-controlled court sentences media owner to death

The owner of Yemen Digital Media and Yemen Live for Media Production and Satellite Broadcasting, Taha Ahmed Rashid Al-Maamari, was sentenced to death and his properties confiscated on fabricated charges by a Houthi court in the capital Sana’a, reported the Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate (YJS).

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the YJS, in condemning the arbitrary ruling and urges de facto authorities and other armed groups to end their use of the judiciary to attempt to intimidate and silence journalists and media workers in the country and abroad.

On 24 September, the Houthi-controlled Court of First Instance in Sana’a sentenced to death the owner of two media companies in Yemen, Taha Al-Maamari, and ordered the confiscation of his properties in the country and abroad, according to the journalist’s publication on social media.

Al-Maamari denounced several violations against his media companies by the Houthi faction. In April 2018, an armed group stormed the offices of Yemen Digital Media and Yemen Live for Media Production and Satellite Broadcasting, seized the content and confiscated some equipment, under the pretext of the owner’s alleged support for the ‘aggression’ by one of Yemen’s warring parties.

Following the ruling, the YJS expressed its full support to Al-Maamari and rejected the verdict. “This unjust ruling threatens the life of an individual working in the media sector and denies him his rights, on the basis of fabricated charges [...] We denounce the use of the judiciary as a tool to target media institutions and journalists, dragging them into the country’s ongoing conflicts with the aim of seizing their assets and intimidating those working and investing in the media sector”.