The United States Wednesday voiced concern after Yemeni authorities freed a journalist who had been jailed for three years on charges of links to Al-Qaeda.
Investigative journalist Abdul Ilah Haydar Shae was arrested on August 16, 2010 for promoting Al-Qaeda and sentenced to five years in prison.
But he was freed Tuesday after serving three years, having been pardoned by President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.
“We are concerned and disappointed by his early release,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
“He was sentenced by a Yemeni court to five years in prison for his involvement with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. We have also conveyed our concerns to the government of Yemen.”
Shae was arrested after reporting US involvement in a deadly air raid against Al-Qaeda in southern Yemen, according to rights groups that had been calling for his release.
Last year, Amnesty International said Shae had alleged US involvement in a December 2009 missile attack on Al-Majalah in Abyan province of southern Yemen, noting the strike killed 41 local residents, mostly women and children, and 14 Al-Qaeda suspects.
He had initially been ordered released by former Yemeni strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011, but rights groups said that was never carried out under pressure from the US.
Psaki would not comment on allegations that Washington had exerted pressure on Sanaa, saying only “he was convicted and sentenced and he was released early and that is not our preference.”
US concern as Yemen frees Qaeda-linked reporter
