Marib..Journalists protest for release of abducted colleagues in Houthi jails

Journalists and activists staged a rally in Marib province on the World Press Freedom Day, May 3, to demand the release of tens of journalists swept into jails by Houthi rebels who mounted a military coup in 2014.

The rally, called for by the Yemeni Journalists' Syndicate, condemned the rebels crackdown on journalists and media bandits in accordance with the rebel leader Abdul-Malil al-Houthi's labeling of journalists as "more dangerous" enemies than government soldiers.

Ever since their September 2014 coup, the Houthis have rounded up journalists to jails and tortured some of them to death and others to disability.

In a press statement, the protesters called on the international community to shoulder their responsibility in pressuring the rebel militia to stop targeting journalists and media, and to release the abductees and detainees and to stop using the courts under their control to silence press.