Belqees TV Statment on the Killing of Its Photographer By Houthi Militia in Taiz

It is with deep sorrow that Belqees TV Channel received the news of the martyrdom of their photographer Mr. Mohammed Al-Qadasi in the countryside of Taiz. Mr. Al-Qadasi was killed while covering an activity in Al-Khayamy Area of Al-Ma’afir District, in an operation that reflects the brutality and crime of the Houthi militia – targeting civilians in all areas of Yemen over the past three years.

Belqees Channel offers sincere condolences to the family of the deceased, his friends and fellow journalists and media professionals. We cannot praise enough his devotion and dedication to his work and his efforts to cover all events and violations of the Houthi militia in all areas and districts of Taiz Governorate. The year and a half in his position as the Channel photographer he showed his devotion, dedication and was admired by all his colleagues.

In this context, Belqees Channel emphasizes the obligation on all Yemenis and all human rights organizations and local, regional and international journalists to stand together against the Houthi terrorist militia and expose their crimes against the press and journalists.

Therefore, the Channel intends to take all legal measures to ensure the rights of victims, and to prosecute the perpetrators, so that they receive their fair punishment. We hereby renounce the hundreds of crimes committed by the Houthi militia against the press and journalists since its coup in September 2014, including the assassination and kidnap of dozens of journalists and using them as human shields, as experienced by two fellow journalists, Mr. Abdullah Qabel and Yousef Al-Ayzari, who were martyred in 2015.

Furthermore, the Channel calls on the Union of Journalists, the Union of Arab Journalists and the International Federation of Journalists to stand by Yemeni journalists who are subjected to the worst abuses and systematic targeting by the Houthi militia, which has been classified as the second worst group in the world after the terrorist organization of ISIS.

Belqees Channel confirms that such crimes against journalists and civilians in Yemen will motivate the Channel further to continue their ongoing work exposing and monitoring these violations and reflecting the voices of the victims to the world.

To the immortality of the martyrs, the healing of the wounded and the freedom of all kidnapped journalists.