Haraki militants have criticised on Monday a decision carried by the government which prevented the going to press of al-Ghad, a southern newspaper which has been linked to the Southern Secessionist Movement.
Journalists at al-Ghad confirmed that 14 October Printing, a state-owned publishing house, has refused to print al-Ghad Sunday edition on Saturday evening, on account the newspaper had failed to obtain the necessary permits and licences.
With rights activists already arguing Sana’a central government sought to muzzle southerners by impeding on their freedom of expression, officials were keen to explain the move was only motivated by a need for all written press to conform by state standards and regulations.
Officials at the Information Ministry told the press under cover of anonymity as they were not yet at liberty to comment freely, that the so-called censorship was no more than an attempt by the government to “restore order to the publishing sector.” They added that once al-Ghad would legalize their situation, printing would resume as usual.
Al Ghad, which has often been described as al-Harak’s mouthpiece, was established in Aden in 2007. Known for its pro-secession agenda, al-Ghad has been very aggressive in its criticism of the central government and objections to President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s federal division plan.
But while officials in Sana’a maintain the printing suspension was caused by red-tape and not censorship, al-Ghad management begged to differ, advancing that since its registration in 2007, the newspaper had been duly licenced by the Information Ministry, and “had been abiding by journalistic principles since its inception.”
Al-Ghad slammed the government for its media gagging campaign, stressing that hours before the publication ban was set in place its editor had been attacks at a check point by police.
"Aden al-Ghad cannot but express its sincere sorrow for this step which proves beyond doubt that darkness of the scene which awaits the sons of the south in the coming period," the newspaper wrote on its website.