Officials Seize Media Equipment in Yemen

The Yemini government confiscated the live-broadcast equipment of two pan-Arab news channels.
Officials Seize Media Equipment in Yemen
The Yemini government confiscated the live-broadcast equipment of two pan-Arab news channels, Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera from offices in the Yemen capital Sana'a, last week.

Authorities claimed that the stations did not have authorization for the equipment.

Dubai-based Al-Arabiya said its equipment was taken in an attempt to stifle media coverage of a government crackdown in southern Yemen against a secessionist movement by residents who say they have been marginalized by the government. Al-Arabiya said it was warned about its coverage of the secessionist movement.

Authorities say they will return the equipment.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York based nonprofit, has condemned the confiscation saying this is the latest of numerous violations by the Yemeni government against the press.