10 Feb 12 | News and features, Uncategorized
Two journalists were arrested by Palestinian Authority officials on 31 January after making comments against Mahmoud Abbas and the PLO.
Rami Samara, an editor with local news agency Wafa and radio station Ajyal, told news agency AFP that he was detained by plainclothes security agents at the Muqata, Abbas’ headquarters, following a comment that he had posted on Facebook. Underneath an article which blamed Israel rather than the PA itself for the failure of the Palestinian Executive Committee to meet in Amman last month, he wrote: “seriously, members of the central committee of the sole representative of the Palestinian people, was this decision worth the meeting in the Muqata [compound] and the heating and the electricity and the tea and coffee.”
Samara told AFP that he was held for four hours and shown “about 100 pages of comments I made on Facebook, mostly criticising the Palestinian Authority and the PLO.” Questioned by agents from both Military and General Intelligence agencies, he reported that they told him he would be released on agreeing to sign a confession that he had been the organiser of an anti-government demonstration of a group within the PLO that is critical of Abbas. Despite refusing, Samara was eventually released later that day.
In a second case, Yousef Shayeb, a journalist with the Jordanian newspaper al-Ghad was reported being detained by Palestinian intelligence officials for eight hours. Officials questioned him regarding a series of stories that he had written about corruption within the Palestinian diplomatic mission to France. According to Shayeb, those interrogating him demanded that he reveal his sources, which he refused to do. Government spokesman Ghassan Khatib told AFP that Shayeb was questioned in connection with potential libel charges, in order that security services could decide whether to file charges against him.
Both journalists are members of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, a majority Fatah organisation, meaning that the political crossover between the organisation and the Palestinian Authority itself resulted in limited action being taken against the arrests by the head of the PJS, Dr Abdel Nasser Najjar.
Although a press release by the PJS stated that it would “spare no effort to defend journalists,” with Dr Najjar quoted as saying that it is “the responsibility of the Association to follow up the issues of journalists,” it is unclear what if any steps were taken by the PJS to protect the reporters concerned. Compared to the outcry in October 2010 when Hamas occupied the offices of the PJS in Hamas-controlled Gaza, it would seem that there is little political gain to be had in reacting to the arrests in a manner that was more than cosmetic. Attempts to contact Wafa and the PJS directly to discuss the cases were also ignored.
Despite local media outlets having an obvious vested interest in press freedom, coverage of the arrests was extremely limited. Wafa, the agency where Samara works, published a very short report which was also republished by the Palestinian News Network, citing its source very clearly. Bigger news agencies such as Ma’an, who have reported extensively in the past week of journalists’ detained by Israeli forces in Nablus and Bethlehem, were silent about Samara and Shayeb.
In Reporters Without Borders’ annual Press Freedom Index published last month, the Palestinian Territories ranked 153rd out of 179 countries, dropping three places lower than last year. Although the drop was due to the Hamas takeover of the PJS Gaza office, both parts of the Territories examined as one received a lower placement than Afghanistan or Iraq.
Ruth Michaelson is a freelance journalist based in Ramallah. Follow her on Twitter @_Ms_R
09 Feb 12 | Middle East and North Africa, Uncategorized
On 10 February, Abdel Aziz Al-Jaridi, director of two daily newspapers, Al-Hadath and Kul-Anas, will appeal a defamation conviction. Al-Jaridi was sentenced to four months in prison by the first instance court on 13 June 2011 for defaming Al-Jazeera news anchor Mohamed Krichen.
Krichen lodged a complaint against Al-Jaridi in April of last year. On 6 February, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), called on Tunisian authorities to drop the jail term given to Al-Jaridi.
“Tunisian appeals court should throw out the prison sentence against journalist Abdel Aziz al-Jaridi at a 10 February hearing and authorities should use his case as an opportunity to break from the repressive practices of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s era,” said the CPJ.
Journalists in Tunisia can face up to six months in prison for defamation.
Al-Jaridi, considered to be a supporter to the former regime, is known for his articles defaming opposition figures and dissident voices during the rule of Zeine El Abidin Ben Ali.
08 Feb 12 | Middle East and North Africa
Yesterday, Bahraini authorities denied visas to a number foreign journalists ahead of the anniversary of Bahrain’s 14 February uprising. Journalists from the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, Associated Foreign Press, and Al-Jazeera English were all denied visas “due to the high volume of applications”. Local activists expect a violent crackdown on 14 February, as protesters have vowed to return to the now closed Pearl Roundabout.
Among the journalists refused visas are Adam Ellick and the New York Times’s Nicholas Kristof. Ellick told Index that members of Bahrain’s media office had previously assured him that he would be able to “come back anytime”. This pledge was made during Ellick’s last trip in December 2011, during which both he and Kristof were were detained while reporting on protests.
Kristen Chick, a correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor was also denied a visa yesterday. Like Kristof, she also reported from Bahrain during the crackdown.
On Twitter, the authority said it processed applications in the order that they were received, prioritising the earliest applications. The head of the Information Affairs Authority, Sheikh Fawaz, said that the government wanted to “[ensure] a wide range of international media here during this time”.
Last month, the Information Affairs Authority (IAA) sent Index a letter clarifying its stance on “media censorship,” boasting that 700 foreign journalists were allowed to enter the country to cover the Bahrain Air show. It is unclear how many journalists were allowed to enter the country to cover 14 February, but the IAA is insisting that they are allowing many foreign outlets to cover the anniversary of the uprisings. The IAA claim they have granted a number of foreign journalists visas to cover the anniversary, they named Voice of America, BBC, Reuters, Associated Press and Russia El Youm as major news sites allowed to enter the country to cover the anniversary of the uprisings in the tiny country.
Brian Dooley of Human Rights First, who was also denied a visa to enter the country in January, told the Los Angeles Times that “the government is only fuelling suspicions that they don’t want the rest of the world to see what’s going to happen”.
Maryam Al-Khawaja, Head of Foreign Affairs for the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights said that the denied visas were not “a good sign,” and added that it was “even more worrisome that NGOs are not being allowed in either”.
Last month, Dooley, Rick Sollom from Physicians for Human Rights and a delegation from Freedom House were all denied visas, and invited to return at the end of February. The e-mail denying visas to journalists also invited them to return at the end of February, when the “National Commissions work implementing the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI)” would be completed.
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights anticipates an escalation in the protests on 14 February. Al-Khawaja said “high numbers of protesters will continuously attempt to access what was Pearl Square, and the government will use excessive violence to keep them out.”
03 Feb 12 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Ten Iranian journalists were arrested in January as the government continued its crackdown on dissent ahead of March’s parliamentary elections. Recent reports identified three previously undisclosed arrests. Critical blogger Mehdi Khazali was arrested by security forces in Tehran on 9 January and charged with “insulting the supreme leader.” Authorities arrested Paris-based journalist Saeed Razavi Faghih on 17 January as he arrived at a Tehran airport; and on the same day security forces in Tabriz arrested Payman Pakmehr, founder of Tabriz news website, which covers the arrests of local activists, and charged him with “propagating against the regime.” Seven other journalists were also arrested last month.
