Report: Daesh, Yemen’s Houthis top list of detainees of journalists

Yemeni boys attend the funeral of a Yemeni journalist, Almigdad Mojalli, who was was killed on 18 January 2016 [MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images]

Yemen Houthis have topped the list of groups who kidnap journalists and use them as bargaining chips, coming only second to Daesh, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a new report.

In its 2020 round-up published on Monday, the media freedom watchdog said Syria, Iraq, and Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen have become among the countries which jailed the most journalists in 2020.

The group continues to detain seven journalists, including four who were sentenced to death and whose fate remains “shrouded in mystery”, the report said.

In October, the Yemeni government exchanged five journalists held by the Houthis with the group’s fighters who had been captured during the conflict.

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