The Appeals Division of the Aden Criminal Court on Wednesday acquitted journalist Ahmed Maher of all charges against him, overturned the judge's trial sentence of imprisonment and ordered his immediate release.
This came in the hearing held by the court today, to consider the case of journalist Maher, who has been illegally detained since his abduction in August 2022.
The verdict confirmed that "all the charges against journalist Ahmed Maher have no basis in truth," and decided to drop the charges against Maher completely and release him immediately.
In May 2024, the Primary Criminal Court in Aden sentenced journalist Maher to four years in prison with access, two years after he was kidnapped and tortured.
Journalist Maher was abducted on August 6, 2022, by forces affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council militia in Aden, and subsequently subjected to enforced disappearance and torture before being tried on terrorism-related charges described by human rights organizations as hate crimes.