Jamal Amer
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Jamal Amer () is a journalist from
Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
. He is the editor of the weekly journal '' Al-Wasat'', which he founded in 2004. Al-Wasat frequently publishes reports critical of the government from international human rights organizations.


Background

Prior to 2004, Amer worked as a journalist for the weekly '' Al-Wahdawi''. His reporting resulted in convictions for "harming the public interest", "offending King Fahd of Saudi Arabia", and "damaging relations between Saudi Arabia and Yemen". In 2000, he was banned by a court from working as a journalist for having "insulted Saudi Arabia".


Abduction

In 2005, ''Al-Wasat'' carried a series of articles criticizing government corruption, including an article on government officials who had sent children to allied countries to study despite a prohibition from President Ali Abdallah Saleh forbidding the arrangement. On 25 August, Amer was abducted outside his home in
Sana'a Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...
by four men in a vehicle with military license plates. They blindfolded him, drove him into the mountains, beat him, threatened to kill him, and ordered him to stop writing about government officials before releasing him. Though Amer filed a complaint, authorities reportedly took no action on the case. Along with burglaries at the offices of the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
and another newspaper, the incident led to the founding of "a coalition of civil society advocacy of rights and freedoms" led by Yemeni journalists to advocate for their protection and rights. Internationally, the incident was condemned by the Austria-based
International Press Institute International Press Institute (IPI) is a global organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of press freedom and the improvement of journalism practices. The institution was founded by 34 editors from 15 countries at Columbia Universit ...
, which called it "a disturbing picture of the varied methods being used to silence critical voices in the Yemeni press", and by the France-based
Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...
, which called it "a reminder that it is still very difficult to work as an independent journalist in this country".
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
also issued a statement of concern. The following year, the US-based
Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...
awarded Amer its International Press Freedom Award, which recognizes journalists who show courage in defending press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, or imprisonment.


Later work

Amer continued to edit ''Al-Wasat''. In 2008, the Information Ministry attempted to revoke the paper's license, stating that ''Al-Wasat'' "undermined national unity, stirred up religious divisions and damaged relations with neighbouring countries". A court overturned the order, allowing the paper to continue publication. In 2010, his reporter Anisa Mohammed Ali Othman was sentenced ''in absentia'' to a year's imprisonment on a charge of insulting the president after she wrote two articles about political corruption. Amer was fined 10,000 riyals (US$50). He described Othman's prison sentence as "cruel and illegal".


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amer, Jamal Yemeni journalists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)