The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) repeated it call on the Houthi rebels and other armed groups to stop hindering journalists’ work and release all unfairly detained journalists.
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “We strongly condemn the adverse working environment and climate of fear that journalists and media professionals endure in Yemen, jeopardising their safety. Our colleague Mohamed Al-Miyahi is the latest abductee in a long list of journalists who must be immediately and unconditionally released.”
The Houthi rebels abducted journalist Mohamed Al-Miyahi on 20 September in the capital Sana’a, two days after he published an article criticizing them. They also kidnapped journalist Fouad Al-Nahari in late September.
The Houthi rebels have also kidnapped journalists Wahid Al-Sufi, Nabil Al-Sadawi and Fahd Al-Arhabi since April 2015, September 2015 and June 2023, respectively. Journalist Muhammad Qaid Al-Maqri has been reportedly missing since October 2015 in the Hadramout region under the control of Al-Qaeda. Two other journalists, Ahmed Maher and Naseh Shaker, have been detained by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) since August 2022 and November 2023, respectively.
The IFJ and the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) have been relentlessly campaigning for the release of Yemeni journalists.