Yemeni newspaper back on stands

HISTORIC VICTORY: Al Wassat is set to be back on the stands next Wednesday said owner and editor-in-chief Jamal Ameur. (AFP)

A Yemeni court Saturday overturned a government decision to shut down an independent weekly newspaper, a move welcomed by journalists on World Press Freedom Day, the official Saba news agency said.

The court in Sanaa said the Al-Wassat newspaper could resume publication, reversing the closure order handed down by the Information Ministry. Publication of Al-Wassat had been suspended for the past month.

The court also ordered the ministry to pay the newspaper's legal costs and banned it from withdrawing operating licences for other Yemeni publications, Saba reported.

"Al Wassat will be back in the newspaper kiosks next Wednesday," its owner and editor-in-chief Jamal Ameur told newswire AFP.

The ministry said it had based its decision to close the newspaper over its failure to adhere to administrative procedures, including the listing of its editorial staff and failure to provide notice of the relocation of its offices.

Yemen's journalists' union welcomed the verdict, which it described as a "historic victory" for the country's media on World Press Freedom Day.

Yemen has a history of restricting freedom of speech, especially when it involves criticism of the government.

In recent months the government has banned the distribution of several publications, blocked websites and arrested a number of journalists.

RELATED: Yemen intensifies media oppression

In March authorities in Yemen blocked part of the biggest Arabic website in the world, Maktoob.com without any explanation, according to international web freedom organisation the Opennet Initiative.

RELATED: Yemen bans Maktoob to quell dissent

Yemen is currently ranked 143 out of 169 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ Worldwide Press Freedom Index.

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