The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) launched an international campaign Monday to pressure Shi’ite Houthi rebels in Yemen to release four journalists who were sentenced to death two years ago for “espionage” and “spreading false news” in the country. which lasts almost eight years.
In April 2020, a rebel court found the journalists guilty of “ultimate betrayal” and “espionage on behalf of foreign states,” according to a judicial source.
The Houthis, who are considered close to Iran, control almost all of northern Yemen and have clashed since 2014 with government forces backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Yemeni Writers’ Union have issued an “urgent appeal” to support a “campaign to pressure the Houthi authorities to release their colleagues” in order to “save their lives”, the NGO said in a statement.
The four journalists are currently “awaiting execution”, according to the ICC, which wants to “increase pressure” on the guerrillas and urges “key players in the international community” to mobilize.
The Brussels-based IOC, which represents trade unions and journalists’ unions in 140 countries, also posted an open letter to the UN urging Internet users to subscribe.
When the verdict was announced, Amnesty International stigmatized the process, claiming that “espionage allegations” were “completely fabricated” against journalists who were simply “peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression”.
For its part, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) spoke of a “completely unacceptable” decision, which it described as “systematically oppressive” by the Houthi regime “towards journalists” and their intention to “clear them up”. their accounts with all the media that criticize them “.
Ansar Allah, better known by the family name of its leader, the Houthis, took over the capital Sanaa in 2014 and continued to emerge in the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula. In the face of its full dominance, a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia intervened in the war in late March 2015 on the side of government forces.
All parties to the armed conflict in Yemen have been accused by NGOs and UN experts of committing “war crimes”.
With more than 377,000 dead, according to United Nations estimates, this war has caused one of the worst humanitarian tragedies on the planet, with most of the population facing the specter of starvation, forced displacement, disease …
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