SANAA, Yemen, June 8 (UPI) -- A Yemeni presidential candidate charged Thursday that the authorities waged a media campaign aimed at tarnishing her image before Yemeni voters.
Somaya Ali Rajai said she was sued for issuing a bouncing check, a matter that she denied and explained as an "attempt for blackmail" on the part of the authorities.
Rajai denounced the measures taken against her which she described as "illegal and a clear misleading of justice."
She said "these measures are considered as an act of defamation and slander, especially at this time that precedes shortly the legal period for election campaigning."
The director of the Shummar resort hotel told Yemeni newspapers last week that Rajai "gave him a bouncing check to the International Yemen Bank worth $3,000."
The public prosecutor issued an summon warrant against Rajai for issuing a bouncing check but she refused to appear to the summoning despite being informed of the measure.
The prosecution said Rajai issued the bouncing check on April 19 to cover expenses of her stay at the hotel since February 17.
Rajai was the first to announce her candidature for the presidential elections in September which President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been ruling Yemen for more than two decades, said he will not contest.
But the opposition believe Saleh's declaration made last year was just a maneuver since his ruling General Congress Party has endorsed his re-election.
