On 18 January 2025, journalist Ahmad Maher was released from Bir Ahmad prison in Aden, Yemen. On 25 December 2024, the Aden-based Specialized Criminal Court of Appeal acquitted him after he was sentenced by the Specialized Criminal Court to four years in prison following a grossly unfair trial on charges of disseminating false and misleading news, a crime that is not recognized under international law, and forging dentity documents.

 

 

Ahmad Maher was released from Bir Ahmad prison on 18 January after the Aden-based Specialized Criminal Court of Appeal acquitted him on 25 December 2024.

 

On 28 May 2024, Ahmad Maher was sentenced by the Specialized Criminal Court to four years in prison following a grossly unfair trial on charges of disseminating false and misleading news, a crime that is not recognized under international law, and forging identity documents.

 

Ahmad Maher has spent more than two years in detention during which he was subjected to a litany of human rights violations including torture and other ill-treatment. While detained, he has been denied the right to adequate defence, to access a lawyer of his choosing, to presumption of innocence and not to self-incriminate, rendering his detention arbitrary.

 

In a social media post published on 18 January, Ahmad Maher thanked everyone who took action and called for his release.

 

NAME AND PREFFERED PRONOUN: Ahmad Maher (he/him).

THIS IS THE FOURTH AND FINAL OUTPUT FOR UA 4/24.

LINK TO PREVIOUS UA: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde31/8899/2025/en/.