19 March 2011
Reporters Without Borders records that the authorities continue to respond with violence to protests movement in Bahrain, Yemen and, now, the Palestinian Territories. Reporters Without Borders condemns these attempts to censor and intimidate.
With military contingents now being sent from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to help contain the political agitation, men armed with clubs and knives stormed the printing press of Al-Wasat, Bahrain’s only independent daily, on 15 March and smashed equipment, thereby preventing the newspaper from publishing.
19 March 2011
Reporters Without Borders records that the authorities continue to respond with violence to protests movement in Bahrain, Yemen and, now, the Palestinian Territories. Reporters Without Borders condemns these attempts to censor and intimidate.
With military contingents now being sent from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to help contain the political agitation, men armed with clubs and knives stormed the printing press of Al-Wasat, Bahrain’s only independent daily, on 15 March and smashed equipment, thereby preventing the newspaper from publishing.
Editor Mansour al-Jamri said employees had been threatened because of Al-Wasat’s coverage of the political unrest. Printing press manager Ahmed Mahdi said police had been escorting his employees to and from their work during the three days prior to the attack because of threats from people gathered outside. The newspaper Al-Ayam agreed to print Al-Wasat’s latest issue.
Mohammed Jamjoom, a CNN correspondent based in Abu Dhabi, was deported on 16 March for unclear reasons. An information ministry official escorted him to the airport but the authorities provided no explanation for his expulsion. Wall Street Journal reporter Alex Delmar-Morgan was arrested by members of the National Guard as he walked towards Pearl Square on 16 March and was held for three hours. Al-Wasat photographer Mohammed al-Mukharaq was attacked by a score of plain-clothes security agents while taking photos of protesters on 13 March. His sustained a fracture to his left hand and his camera and mobile phone were broken.
Tension between Bahrain’s Shiite and Sunni communities is mounting and there have been calls on the Internet for the closure of the bureau of the Iranian Shiite TV station Alalam and the arrest of its correspondent, Ali Al-Mousawi.
Full report on rsf.org
