Taha Ahmed Rashid Al-Maamari

YEMEN: JOURNALIST SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HOUTHI-CONTROLLED GROUP

September 24, 2024:

The owner of media companies Yemen Digital Media and Yemen Live for Media Production and Satellite Broadcasting, Taha Ahmed Rashid Al-Maamari, on September 24, 2024 was sentenced to death by a Houthi-controlled court in Yemen’s capital Sana’a.
The ruling also ordered the confiscation of Al-Maamari’s properties in Yemen and abroad. The media owner has been living in Spain since 2015. 
In 2018, Al-Maamari’s offices were raided by an armed group under the pretext that the journalist supported the ‘aggression’ by a party in conflict with Yemen. 
The National Union of Journalists joins the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have urged a reversal of the sentence and an end to the intimidation of journalists through the country’s judiciary.
Anthony Bellanger, IFJ general secretary, said:
“We condemn the tactics carried out by the de facto authorities in Sana’a, including the arbitrary sentencing against our colleague Al-Maamari, which only seeks to prevent journalists from doing their jobs and to discourage media owners from investing in the media industry in Yemen. We call on the international community and journalists’ groups across the world to advocate for overturning the unjust ruling and campaigning for the release of all imprisoned journalists in the country.”