Yemeni Law and Justice Portal Warns Against Phenomenon of Defamation of Judges

Yemen

Yamanat

A statement from the Yemeni Judges Club – recently published on its official Facebook page – sparked widespread reactions in legal and human rights circles, after condemning the incident in which Judge Sari Al-Ajili, President of the Court of Appeal in Ibb Governorate, was the subject of a campaign of insults, defamation and threats on social media, in the context of a criminal case pending before the courts.

The press release explains that what happened constitutes a crime in its own right, aimed at undermining the dignity of the judge and influencing the course of justice, through moral and media pressure outside the legal framework. The Judges’ Club confirmed that the judge did not intervene in the above-mentioned case and that the publication of the accusations against him is a crime requiring legal accountability.

In the first analytical legal commentary on the incident, the Yemeni Legal and Judicial Portal published a lengthy statement in which it emphasized that what happened should not be understood as an isolated individual incident, but rather as a dangerous indicator of the escalation of the phenomenon of electronic terrorism against judges and the transformation of communication platforms into pressure tools that can be used to direct justice instead of respecting its independence.

The judicial system is not a ground for defamation
The Law Gate emphasized in its statement that respecting the judiciary does not mean immunizing it from criticism or accountability, but it does require that this be done through official channels that preserve the rights of opponents and ensure the integrity of proceedings, and not through media exchanges.

The statement emphasizes that recourse to the media – even in cases where the objection is legitimate – is an extremely dangerous path for the interests of the litigants themselves, because opening this door will allow the perpetrator of the crime to use his influence, money or connections with the media to influence cases, and the media can become a tool of blackmail and defamation as an alternative to the law.

The media is not a court
The Legal Portal called on the competent authorities, led by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, to quickly open a thorough investigation into the incident and refer those responsible for the offensive campaign to the justice system, emphasizing that the State is responsible for preserving the dignity of the judiciary and deterring anyone threatening its independence.

She also called on citizens, activists and media professionals to avoid going into details of cases discussed in the media and to resort only to the law, noting that defaming a judge while he is examining a case represents a direct moral pressure which can affect his judicial conviction and cause the balance of justice to be lost.

Electronic threats against judges
This incident has reignited debate over the extent of protection enjoyed by judges in Yemen, in light of the growing use of electronic platforms to settle scores, incite or distort.

Observers say this is not a question of freedom of expression, but rather a dangerous slide toward using the media as a tool to pressure an institution that is supposed to be insulated from public opinion and popular sentiment.

The Law Portal statement concluded by asserting that defending the dignity of the judge means defending the right of every citizen to have their cases judged in a fair and impartial manner, and that harming the judiciary is not an attack on an individual, but rather a weakening of the last institution that maintains the balance of society.

Yemen