Assistance Please
May 7th, 2008 at 2:02 pm by Preston Taylor HolmesJane from Armies of Liberation, long-time friend of the Buffet, has been a thorn in the side of the Yemeni Islamofascist Government and now has a way for you to help journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani, who is again a target of the impotent Yemeni government’s rage.
This is the guy I made the online petition for in March 2005 and the bloggers all helped and he got amnesty. Since then he and I have become good friends. He loves democracy as much as I do. And he’s paid the price for it. Since he was released in 2005, Al-Khaiwani has been beaten, kidnapped, censored and imprisoned. His paper was cloned, his website blocked and his children threatened.
Al-Khaiwani was badly beaten during his arrest in June 2007. His daughter, six year old Ebba, was slapped by police so hard that she fell unconscious. After Al-Khaiwani’s arrest and release on bail, he was kidnapped and badly beaten again. The US State Department issued a statement from DC noting his abduction pointed to, “disturbing trend of intimidation and harassment of Yemen’s journalist community.”
You can sign this letter of protest to send to a variety of diplomats/government types who may be able to do something to help.
h/t McCainiac
May 7th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Thanks very very much Preston.
May 7th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Freedom is a beautiful thing…
Having been born and raised in this country, sometimes it’s too easy to take for granted exactly how good I have it as compared to other parts of the world. As an American citizen, I have many rights that others do not. One of which is the firs…
May 7th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Thanks, Preston – you rawk. ♥
May 7th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Urgent request for support!…
My friend and fellow Cotillion member, Jane Novak, has been blogging regularly and brilliantly about the corruption of the Yemeni government at her blog, the Armies of Liberation (she is also a contributor at the Jawa Report). The government of Yemen h…
May 8th, 2008 at 6:31 am
Jane – anytime. You do the Lord’s work.
Beth – let me know when you finally get that glorious ride on the Straight Jacket Express™.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:27 am
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May 12th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Preston, Karim asked me to forward this letter to the bloggers and readers that are supporting him, Jane:
“Thank you very much for this campaign, which comes in the context of the overall values that we believe, and they punish us when we believe those values and adopt them. I do not want to talk about myself, but rather the environment that we live in and suffering we endure from the inconsistency between what the authorities announce about democracy and freedoms, and what happens when we believe in those same things, democracy and freedoms.
They want us to practice our rights as they understand them, but we do it ideally. The regime said that democracy is the way of ruling, but when we try to practice our rights within this concept, criticizing the way that the regime governs and how they act, then they deal with us in a way that has no relation to democracy. They deal with us as outlaws. They use all of the state’s resources to attack anyone who has any opinions not corresponding with their opinions, and to attack those who even discuss their way of ruling.
What I am suffering and facing is part of the price I and many others pay for the democracy and freedom we hope to achieve in the future. At least we are preparing for a healthy environment that we want the next generation to live in. We believe that democracy and freedom have an expensive price, and this is a part of that price.
However that doesn’t mean we will keep silent and bend, as it is the price. We will refuse injustice peacefully. Solidarity is a way to enhance new civil values which support the democracy we will make with our sacrifice and with the support of others. We pay the price of the freedom for ourselves and for the generations after us. Again, thank you very much for your help and support.”
Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani
Sana’a, Yemen
(From Jane: Again the link to the one-click letter campaign is: http://campaigns.aicongress.org/yemen/
background article: http://www.menassat.com/?q=en/news-articles/2492-fearless-yemen )
May 19th, 2008 at 8:52 am
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