Journalists Syndicate Holds General Conference Next March; Denounces Attacks on Journalist

The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) board held a meeting last Saturday and scheduled the syndicate's general conference for March 14. It further pointed out that candidacy for the post of the chairman and the board members will start as of January 27.

This move comes after journalists worked for pressing for the general conference which has been postponed several times. It also seeks to replace the current leaderships, mostly opposition members, with journalists affiliated with the ruling party, the General People Congress, prior to conducting the forthcoming parliamentary elections due to be held on April 27. 

YJS denounced the cruel attack that targeted fellow journalist Hussein Al-Liswas, the Chief Editor of Al-Taghdeed Newspaper, over his journalistic writings, demanding the concerned authorities to hold those responsible into account.

In a press release, the syndicate mentioned that Al-Liswas, also the Chief Editor of the blocked Sana'a Press website, is still under arrest and has not received the required medical care, blaming the leadership of Al-Baidha province for the incident.

It also called on the government and other legal bodies to act responsibly towards this issue and to work for preventing such harsh violations against journalists and condemned the legal apparatuses for failure to bring the perpetrators before the court.

Meanwhile, dozens of journalists staged a sit-in last Saturday in protests against the barbaric attack against fellow journalist Hussein Al-Liswas and called on security apparatuses to release him immediately and to punish those officials behind the attack.

Sources revealed that the unlimited freedom and courageous approach adopted by the paper, especially in dealing with corruption issues, could be among the motivations for the attack which took place in Al-Baidha province.