Protesting for Press Freedom in Yemen
As I was sitting here in my hotel room in Sanaa, jousting with the Internet in an effort to upload an audio slideshow about illegal gold mining in Peru (to accompany our new program on reducing carbon emissions), and preparing to write a blog post about my observations during my first 24 hours in town, I heard the distinct sound of a ruckus outside. I peered out my window, and saw a small mass of people marching down the street singing songs and carrying signs (ok, they weren’t so much singing songs as chanting, but couldn’t resist the Buffalo Springfield reference).
Journalists are drawn to demonstrations/marches like moths to a flame, so I grabbed my camera and recorder and ran outside. The crowd had stopped in the middle of the street outside my hotel and people began delivering speeches over the battery-operated PA system they were carrying. Many of the signs had the picture of the same man. One of the pictures showed him severely injured and in a medical facility. One sign had the words “Women Journalists Without Chains” written in English at the bottom.
I was unsure what this was all about, but one thing was clear – it was peaceful. There were a number of police/military men wandering around and none looked threatened or concerned. In fact, on of them helped me up onto a small wall so I could take better pictures, so there didn’t seem to be any concern about violence or security.