Yemen: journalist in desperate need of medical care following abduction

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has joined its affiliate, the Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate (YJS), in condemning the abduction of a local journalist and in urging his captors to immediately release him so he can get vital medical care. Reports said that local freelance journalist Abdel Rahim Mohsen, who suffers from severe diabetes, was kidnapped by armed men dressed in civilian clothing on the morning of Tuesday 22 August while on his way to the hospital in Al-Raheda near Taiz for treatment for his deteriorating condition. His family told the YJS that they received news the journalist had fallen into a coma as a result of his diabetes. Mohsen was stopped at a checkpoint before being taken to an unknown location whilst men searched his home in the al-Silo district of Southern Taiz, reports added. YJS General Secretary Mohammed Shubaita told the IFJ that the union had been informed by a relative of the journalist that he had since been moved to Errahida Directorate, in the area of El Salah in west Taiz. “We call on the captors of our Yemeni colleague Abdel Rahim Mohsen to immediately release him as a matter of humanitarian assistance,” said IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger.  “We stand with our affiliate the YJS in condemning this terrible crime and urge the warring parties not to use journalists and other civilians as pawns during the conflict in Yemen.”Yemen has been split by civil war since 2015 when Houthi rebels along with supporters of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh seized control of the capital of Sana’a and much of the east of the country. A coalition of Arab and African states led by Saudi Arabia and supported by the US began a military intervention in 2015. Check our IFJ safety guidelines here

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