Gulf | Bahrain
Activist tells Bahrain to scrap jail for journalists
Bahrain should build on its good intentions and remove the last obstacles to freedom of expression, the Secretary General of Reporters Without Frontiers has said.
- By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
- Published: 20:41 February 14, 2008
Manama: Bahrain should build on its good intentions and remove the last obstacles to freedom of expression, the Secretary General of Reporters Without Frontiers has said.
"Bahrain should scrap the prison terms in its press law, encourage the private sector to play a role in the audio-visual field and have the judiciary as the only authority to make decisions on whether to ban internet sites," Robert Ménard said during his visit to Manama this week.
"We have been told that the authorities are amending the current press law to change the articles that mandate prison terms for journalists, and we believe that this move should be encouraged and supported by the parliament and civil society," he said.
Under pressure from journalists to amend the 2002 press law and drop its "repressive clauses", the government is currently drafting a new code.
Last month, Jehad Bu Kamal, the newly-appointed information minister, told reporters that the articles stipulating prison terms would be dropped.
"We also heard from the information ministry officials and the public prosecutor that they too favoured the idea that the courts of law should decide on whether to shut down [internet] sites advertising pornography or hatred. This trend to have the judiciary make the decisions converges with our own views and we would like to see it become a reality on the ground," said Ménard.
Pluralism
The French-born activist said that he also looked forward to the opening up of the audio-visual landscape to the private sector.
"Such a policy will boost pluralism and offer people several choices. We hope that Bahrain will go ahead with the plan soon," Ménard said at the end of a three-day visit to Bahrain, his first to the Gulf country where the eight daily newspapers are owned by individuals and the radio and television stations are managed by the state.
This visit by Reporters Without Borders comes a month after the Paris-based organisation signed an accord with the Qatari authorities to set up the Doha Media Freedom centre.
The centre, funded by the government and run independently by Reporters Without Borders, will monitor freedom of the press in the region.
"Our mission as an international organisation is not to give grades to states, but rather to help improve the status of the press," Ménard said. "We want to work together and we are ready to offer assistance whenever requested."
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