A Printing and Press Court judge surprised a courtroom full of people when he postponed the trial of a Yemeni blogger being tried as journalist for apostasy.

 Ali Qasim Al-Saeedi, who was arrested in November under charges of denouncing Islam was supposed to receive a verdict on Tuesday.  But, in front of an outpouring of journalists, human rights activists, relatives and neighbors, the judge overseeing his case mysteriously postponed a declaration of the verdict until January 7, 2013.

The judge offered stunned witnesses no explanation for his decision.   

Al-Saeddi’s case has generated a lot of attention as it touches on issues of the freedom of expression and faith and who should be considered a journalist. The accused’s family has professed many times that he is a blogger and not a journalist, and thus they say he should not fall under the jurisdiction of the Printing and Press Court.

However, the family offered no comments at the trial on Tuesday.    

The one-time general manager of the Budget and Planning department in the Supreme Judicial Council, Al-Saeddi finds himself in trouble because of academic writings and interpretations of the Koran he posted on his personal facebook page.  

Ameen Hajar, Al-Saeedi’s lawyer, said he is confident that his client will be exonerated, calling the issue a “serious” violation of freedom of expression and faith.  Hajar furthered that Al-Saeedi has declared on numerous occasions that he is a Muslim and that the lawsuit against him was filed by colleagues who “misinterpreted” his publications as apostasy.  The lawyer also says the case involves personal politics between Al-Saeedi and his accusers.     

Al-Saeddi has received an outpouring of support from the local community.   “We are in front of a grave issue that could lead to Al-Saeedi’s demise,” said Abdullah Al-Sabri, a writer.  “To date, the accusations against Al-Saeedi are unfounded.”