freedetainees.org

You might remember our previous posts calling for the unblocking of Yemeni websites, all of which remain blocked within the country to this day. But that is not all, owners and editors of the blocked websites have been threatened and harrassed, and at least one has been imprisoned without trial, a legitimate charge or any form of justification. This is unacceptable. Right now, Yemeni journalists, bloggers, site administrators, and supporters of free speech are relying on our help to spread the word and be as involved as possible in this battle, which I believe can be won if we apply the necessary pressure!

The courageous Walid Al-Saqaf, the administrator of YemenPortal.net, who has been fighting this battle for many exhausting months since his website was also blocked, continues to make us aware of the worsening situation of Yemeni journalists and site owners. In his campaign, FreeYemenPortal.org, which we are proudly sponsoring, he notes:

YemenHurr.com’s editor-in-chief Loui Al-Moayed has been in prison since June 30 without prosecution or justification. He remains behind bars without necessary treatment for he suffers from illnesses that need constant monitoring. The website’s staff had now established a website: FreeLoui.com calling for his release.

I urge you all to get involved in any way that you can in spreading the word about Al-Moayed’s wrongful imprisonment, and the blocking Yemeni websites in general.

The staff of this paper are not even reacting aggressively, they are respectfully calling on the government to please release this innocent man who did nothing wrong. The government therefore has no reason whatsoever to ignore these simple requests:

In this appeal, we particularly stress on the release of Mr. Almoaiad since he is suffering from the infection of active hepatitis (B+) and his health condition is very serious according to the medical reports of serious and intolerable conditions of detention. Mr.Almoaiad was arrested on June 30, 2008 in front of his house in Sanaa and his family still does not know where he is detained or how to send him the necessary medicine.

Our fears on the life of Loai are increasing after several prisoners and detainees have died - according to local reports - including Hashim Hajar, who died on Sept. 30, 2007 inside the Central Prison in Sanaa. Despite the fact the Hashim Hajar had the same medical reports that confirmed the seriousness of his health condition, the Specialized Court rejected all the appeals that demanded the quick release and refused to take him to hospital until he died inside the prison died of because of the same disease that Mr. Almoaiad has. This incident was denounced by several human rights organizations including Amnesty International and they demanded a rapid, comprehensive and independent investigation about his death and to take immediate action to ensure that other detainees get adequate medical treatment, but there was no response to the demands and the tragedy is about to be repeated again with Mr. Almoaiad.

While we condemn the insistence of the security agencies on keeping Mr. Almoaiad away from health care, we appeal to you to immediately release and end the state of forced disappearance of Mr. Almoaiad since the war has stopped, and his health condition is very serious. Also, we hope you direct security agencies to bind by the constitution and law when detaining suspected of involvement in any acts contrary to law and avoid the kidnapping and concealment methods.

30 organizations have signed this appeal.

Don’t let this slide, this is an innocent man’s life we are talking about, a brave person who dared to express and allow others to express opinions freely under a regime that does not tolerate such freedom for its citizens. If you remain silent, keep in mind that it is the equivalent of giving the “go ahead” to the Yemeni government to continue doing what it pleases, even if it means playing with other people’s lives and shamelessly denying their basic human rights.

Contact Walid to see how you can get involved, or if you have a website, write about the case and place a banner to express your solidarity with these brave thinkers.

Our hopes and prayers will be with Loui, his family, and those in similar situations.

August 19th, 2008 | Category: Detainee, Journalist, Loui Al-Moayed, Yemen |  Print This Post | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL