Imprisoned in the Name of the Prophet

The caricatures of Mohammed have already severely damaged the freedom of the press in the Arab world. Three papers have been closed down in Yemen and an editor-in-chief who called for reconciliation has been imprisoned. Klaus Heymach and Susanne Sporrer report

Newspaper stand in Sanaa, Yemen (photo: Sporrer/Heymann)
The Yemeni government is using the Mohammed caricatures, which were first published in a Danish newspaper, as an excuse to tighten the press laws

​​A conciliatory leader in the English-language weekly Yemen Observer called on Muslims to "accept the apology and look to the future". This call was made at a time when the outrage about the Danish caricatures had just reached fever pitch on the streets of Sanaa: tens of thousands of veiled women were demonstrating against the disparagement of the Prophet and Danish butter and cheese was being removed from shop shelves.

Following a resolution issued by the Ministry of Information, the Yemen Observer may no longer be published. The licences of the newspapers al-Hurriah and al-Rai al-Aam were also revoked on the grounds that they had reprinted the caricatures.

Editor-in-chief of the Observer, Mohammed al-Asadi, now finds himself in a prison cell, accused of defaming the founder of Islam, and facing a court case. In addition to a balanced background report and glorification of the Prophet, the Yemen Observer had printed some of the Danish caricatures scored through with a big "x". Why, bluntly demanded the public prosecutor, did the prisoner not defend Islam better?

Al-Asadi just cannot understand it: "God and the Prophet know that I have done nothing wrong," says the devoutly religious father in his basement cell, which he shares with a good dozen petty criminals. "We love the Prophet" protest his colleagues at a press conference of the Union of Journalists.

They claim that, under other circumstances, the editors would have stood up for the freedom of the press and complained about interference from the Ministry of Information. Now, however, the only thing that matters to the Observer, which is actually quite loyal to the government, is not to come across as an infidel, Western newspaper that does not uphold Islamic values.

Tightening press law

Moreover, the call for enhanced media freedom has been discredited. "The Danish caricatures are being used throughout the Arab world as an argument against press freedom," says Hafez al-Bukari, Secretary General of the Union of Journalists in Yemen. "That has really dealt a body blow to our cause."

Al-Bukari goes on to say that the chances of the Yemeni government's planned new media law being passed are better now than ever before. Journalists have been resisting the plans, which would result in a much more restrictive law, for months. "The new press law is right; we need tight boundaries," is the message that the government is sending out by closing down the three aforementioned newspapers, he says.

At the same time, al-Bukari is not in favour of a press freedom that would offend people's religious sensitivities. "Religion is taboo; we are all in agreement on that point." This is a taboo that many Muslims consider to have already been broken because an image of the Prophet has been printed in an Arab newspaper, even if it was for documentary purposes only.

If the government curtails such freedoms, it will not meet with any resistance, especially in a society as extremely conservative as Yemeni society. And this means that it can simultaneously try to limit political freedom too.

Al-Bukari sums up the official strategy as follows: "curbing press freedom to protect society". Naturally, this also includes protecting the president against unpleasant criticism.

While the Observer's editor, al-Asadi, is still waiting for his case to come up in court, the editor-in-chief of the socialist party newspaper al-Thauri, Khalid Salman, was recently sentenced to two years in prison and two of his colleagues to twelve months each. Their crime: they reported on corruption and, in doing so, offended the head of state.

Imams demand death penalty for editors

Renowned media scientist Raufa Hassan Alsharki fears that the dispute surrounding the Mohammed caricatures will further entrench opinions. Now, she says, another taboo has been added to the public debate. The atmosphere is so charged that hardly anyone will dare to speak out in favour of reaching an understanding with the West and no-one will dare to even think about defending Europeans.

Raufa Hassan Alsharki (photo: Larissa Bender)
"It makes no difference who apologises at this stage": Raufa Hassan Alsharki fears that the Mohammed caricatures will remain on the agenda until the presidential elections in September

​​And just in case anyone does, the radicals have already moved things up a gear: some imams have demanded death penalties for the editors-in-chief of the banned newspapers. Apparently, the radical sheikh Abdul Majid al-Zindani succeeded this week in getting his supporters to donate almost € 90,000 with a single sermon. The money, explains Alsharki, is intended "to silence unpleasant journalists who defend the freedom of the press,"

As far as Alsharki is concerned, the dispute is no longer about the freedom of the press or offended religious sensitivities. She is convinced that the dispute is politically motivated and that it is a welcome opportunity for Islamists to mobilise their supporters. She accuses them of exploiting people's religiousness by posing as the only true defenders of Mohammed.

This sort of behaviour creates an atmosphere in which there is no room for critical and conciliatory voices. Given the public outrage, the government was under pressure to take action against the newspapers that reprinted the caricatures, says Felix Eikenberg, head of the office of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Sanaa. "The religious taboo in the Arab world is much greater."

Alsharki fears that the domestic debate in Yemen will continue to be dominated by the caricatures until the presidential elections in September: "it makes no difference who apologises at this stage".

Some newspapers that specialise in mud-slinging have already created a new insult: last week, al-Bukari was denounced in the press as an "agent of Denmark" because he co-ordinated a Danish-funded training course for journalists in Sanaa last year.

Klaus Heymach / Susanne Sporrer

© Qantara.de 2006

Translated from the German by Aingeal Flanagan

Qantara.de

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