Det omanske journalistforbundet trenger støtte i arbeidet for å få frigitt al-Hanai fra fengsel. Omanske myndigheter fengslet ham etter at han offentliggjorde en korrupsjonssak som involverer åtte statsansatte i landet.
– En viktig grunn for NJ for å delta på kongressen er å forsvare og ta initiativ til bedre arbeidsforhold, pressefrihet og rettssikkerhet for alle journalister. Vi håper kongressen vil gi sin tilslutning, sier NJ-leder Dag Idar Tryggestad.
Norsk Journalistlag ber Den internasjonale journalistføderasjonen (IFJ) om å vedta en uttalelse om saken. Forslaget ble fremmet på IFJ-kongressen, som pågår i Omans hovedstad Muskat denne uken.
– Journalister i Oman og mange andre land i Midtøsten jobber under trange forhold. Når kongressen en gang er lagt til denne delen av verden, må vi benytte muligheten til å påvirke, sier avdelingsleder i NJ, Espen Brynsrud. I morgen stiller han til valg som styremedlem i Den internasjonale journalistføderasjonen (IFJ).
NJs forslag til uttalelse:
URGEN MOTION – submitted by the Norwegian Union of Journalists:
Support for media freedom and independent journalism in Oman
Criminal charges have been filed against the Omani journalist Mukhtar al-Hanai for reporting on a corruption case against eight government officials. He could face up to two years in prison and a heavy fine for doing his job.
According to the London-based human rights organization Oman Centre for Human Rights and the regional human rights group Gulf Centre for Human Rights, the journalists, a reporter from the news website “Atheer”, is charged of breaking the Omani penal code. Al-Hanai reported in March that eight government officials had been found guilty of embezzlement and falsifying government records.
A hearing for Mukhtar al-Hanai’s case was scheduled at the Muscat Court of First Instance in May. However, at the Press Freedom Day on May 3rd and one month before the IFJ congress was going to open in his home city, his case was suddenly postponed until after our congress – without any explanation.
- The IFJ congress asks the new elected president of the IFJ to write immediately – before the scheduled court hearing in the middle of this month – to Oman authorities, asking them to drop the case against Mukhtar al-Hanai and allow all journalists to work freely and without fear of legal harassment.
- The IFJ congress asks the new elected IFJ executive committee to support the Omani Journalist Association in its efforts to reform and to abolish laws that allow to jail journalists in Oman or censor the media.
- The IFJ congress stands in solidarity with all Omani journalists and the Omani Journalist Association.