Dubai. A television journalist who went on a state-organised press trip in Qatar ended up in jail recently for reporting on the conditions of World Cup 2022 labourers.
Mark Lobel, a BBC broadcaster, along with his team, traveled to Qatar on invitation of the prime minister’s office. The public relations (PR) tour was meant to show to international journalists the newly completed flagship housing project for low-earning migrant workers.
The arrest happened shortly before the PR tour started, while Lobel and his cameraman, a translator and a driver, made a side trip to meet a group of expatriates from Nepal .
“The working and housing conditions of migrant workers constructing new buildings in Qatar ahead of the World Cup have been heavily criticised and we wanted to see them for ourselves,” Lobel wrote in his report published on BBC News’ website on Monday.
Before they could meet the workers, some security personnel suddenly blocked their way. ”Eight white cars surrounded our vehicle and directed us on to a side road at speed,” he said.
Twelve men frisked Lobel and his team, confiscated their equipment and hard drives, and drove them to the police headquarters, where they were questioned separately by intelligence officers.
“The questioning was hostile. We were never accused of anything directly, instead they asked over and over what we had done and who we had met. During a pause in proceedings, one officer whispered that I couldn’t make a phone call to let people know where we were. He explained that our detention was being dealt with as a matter of national security.”
After about an hour, Lobel was shown some photographs of him that indicate that they had been monitored since they arrived in Qatar.
“I was shown pictures of myself and the team standing in the street, at a coffee shop, on board a bus and even lying next to a swimming pool with friends. It was a shock. I had never suspected I was being tailed.”
“It was meant to be the first day of our PR tour but instead we were later handcuffed and taken to be questioned for a second time, at the department of public prosecutions. Thirteen hours of waiting around and questioning later, one of the interrogators snapped. ‘This is not Disneyland,’ he barked. ‘You can’t stick your camera anywhere’,” wrote Lobel.
After spending two nights behind bars, Lobel and his team were released and later allowed to join the press tour they were originally invited to.
“It was as if nothing had happened,” he said. “No charges were brought, but our belongings have still not been returned.”
