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A Yemeni photojournalist
Jamal Ahmad al-Sharabi, (Arabic: جمال احمد الشرعبي, c. 1976 – 18 March 2011) was a Yemeni photojournalist with the
independent weekly, Al-Masdar, in Sana'a, Yemen.
Jamal al-Sharabi was the first journalist in Yemen to die while covering
the 2011–2012 Yemeni revolution, which were part of the Arab Spring. He was one
of 50 who were killed by Yemeni security forces, and 600 others were injured,
during a demonstration against President Ali Abdullah Saleh held on March 18, 2011.
Personal
Jamal al-Sharabi was thirty-five years old and he was a father to four
children.
Career
Jamal al-Sharaabi was employed as a photographer for the independent
weekly newspaper, Al-Masdar.
Death
Jamal Ahmed al-Sharabi was shot when
authorities fired on the protesters in Sana'a on Change Square, in the capital
of Yemen, while he was reporting on the scene. Many of the dead were shot in
the neck and head, with the bodies being left in the streets.
Events leading up to his death
At least 45 anti-government protesters died and over 200 were injured as
unidentified gunmen opened fire on them in Sana'a. Jamal al-Sharabi, a thirty-five-year-old
Yemeni photojournalist, was killed in the attack, marking the first journalist
death of the protests.
Sniper fire was also reported. It has been reported that the attackers
were pro-government gunmen, though Saleh said that his security forces did not
open fire and were even unarmed at the time. There are also reports that some of the
protesters who were injured in the attack were taken away in national security
vehicles to a local prison for treatment instead of to a regular hospital,
sparking fears that the injured will be further harassed. Tens of thousands of
people also took to the streets in other cities across the country.
Saleh declared a state of emergency across the country, while state
media blamed the violence on "clashes among citizens." The Common
Forum, a coalition of the opposition parties led by Ali Mohammed al-Sabry, condemned
the shootings.
The Washington Post reported that
US President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and French
President Nicolas Sarkozy had condemned the attack.
Impact
Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO expressed great disapproval for
the death of Jamal Ahmed al-Sharabi during the attack that killed and injured
of dozens of unarmed civilians on March 18, 2011. Jamal Ahmed al-Sharabi was
among the first to be shot in front of the capital while covering a crowd of protesters.
Irina Bokova said, "The killing of Jamal Ahmed al-Sharabi is an attack
against the basic human right of the people of Yemen to freedom of
expression." He continued by saying, "It is the duty of the
authorities to ensure that journalists are able to carry out their professional
duties in the safest possible conditions. In the year following the attacks the former
president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, threatened to arrest the Prime Minister
Mohammed Salem Basindawa because of their differences in how the regime should
be run. As a result, this has continued to increase tension between the new and
former Yemeni regimes.
Reactions
As a reaction to Friday's government violence against the protesters,
Yemen is now in a state of emergency.
The U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said the Yemeni people
deserve the right to demonstrate peacefully, to freely assemble, and to express
themselves without fear of being harmed. And United States President Barack
Obama said he deplored the unrest in Yemen and mentioned that an international
investigation was needed.
Even in the past, Ann Cooper, the executive director of CPJ, urged the
Yemeni government to publicly condemn these types of brutal attacks against the
media. She believes it is extremely important that law enforcement holds a
proper investigation into such events in order for more there to be more
accountability to the law.