22 February 2008

Sana'a: A legal complaint accusing a Yemeni MP and human rights activist of offending Islam has angered intellectuals, who say such charges aim only to incite violence against activists.

Eleven MPs wrote to the general prosecutor accusing Ahmad Saif Hashed of insulting Islam and demanding he be removed from his post, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by Gulf News.

The MPs, led by Islamist extremists, say that Al Mustakelah, a newspaper owned by Hashed, has offended Islam. Under Yemeni law, the editor-in-chief, and not the publisher, is accountable for content. The complaint should have been filed against the editor-in-chief, Yasin Al Zakri.

"We Al Muhtaseboon signed hereunder demand dropping the membership of the MP, the so-called Ahmad Saif Hashed, because he lost some of the conditions of the membership by allowing his newspaper, the so-called Al Mustakelah, to publish what offends Islam and damages Sharia and destroys the values in violation of the Sharia, constitution, and laws," reads the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by Gulf News.

There is no a specific issue behind the campaign being against the recently established bimonthly paper.

But the editorial line has focused on three trends, which are most likely behind the criticism - and consequently the paper's wide circulation.

The paper publishes articles by Yemeni and Arab liberals criticising the opinions of religious scholars, a senior editor at the paper said.

The paper's popularity can also be attributed to its reporting of sex scandals.

The unemployed and homeless are among the most regular readers, feeling that the paper is their only representative. Almost no issue has come out without an interview with at least one member of the poorest, most dispossessed communities.

Although most Yemenis don't deny that the issues covered by the paper take place, some prefer not to hear about them.

Huge problems

"Yes, the issues are realistic, these issues are there in our society, there is even much more than the paper publishes," MP Abdul Bari Dughaish told Gulf News.

"Reporting about such issues is not offending Islam at all. The paper is ringing the bell of danger, it is warning us that there are huge problems that we should work to finding solutions [for], instead of silencing the people who speak about them," he said.

Following the complaint, human rights activists warned that the accusations of offending Islam might inspire extremists to murder.

Hashed, an independent MP and former judge, is a member of the rights and liberties committee and is known for his strong stance against the human rights violations and abuses.

He is known for his visits to prisoners - including Al Qaida suspects and anti-government Al Houthi supporters.

Being a member of parliament hasn't protected Hashed from harassment, intimidation and even beatings from the security forces in the prisons.

The complaint, still undecided at the prosecutor's office, has led some Yemeni liberals to criticised the complainants, who spoke in the name of Islam as "guards of Islam".

"We need preachers, we need mosque speakers to tell people about virtues and justice and love and tolerance of Islam. But we do not need people who think of themselves as guards for Islam," Ali Saif Hassan, chairman of the Political Development Forum, told Gulf News.

By Nasser Arrabyee

© Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.