Int'l Federation Of Journalists Demands Yemen To Immediately Release Missing Reporter

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Thursday called on Yemeni authorities to immediately release Yahya al-Sawari, a freelance journalist, who was detained by Yemeni security forces earlier this month

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2019) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Thursday called on Yemeni authorities to immediately release Yahya al-Sawari, a freelance journalist, who was detained by Yemeni security forces earlier this month.

On July 3, al-Sawari, who was interviewing protesters in Sanaa's central hospital who had been injured in the Saudi-led coalition's airstrikes, was arrested by Yemeni security forces. On July 5, the Sanaa Center, for whom al-Sawari was working, published a report in which it said that the whereabouts of the freelance journalist remained unknown, as were the charges on which he was arrested.

"We urge Yemeni security forces to immediately release Yahya al-Sawari. We will held them responsible for any injury suffered by him and we reiterate our call to respect journalists' professional freedom and their working conditions," IFJ said in a statement.

Additionally, IFJ condemned the silence over the journalist's whereabouts and called on all parties involved in the Yemeni conflict to respect the freedom of journalists.

The Yemeni Almawqea Post news outlet has said that after his arrest al-Sawari was brought to the Al-Ghaydah airport and handed over to Saudi forces controlling the facility.

Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Houthi rebels for several years. The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015.