Another Arab Journalist Jailed For Doing Their Job
First there was Taysir Alluni, the Al-Jazeera reporter, who was sentenced to jail for 7 years in 2005 because of an interview he did with Osama Bin Laden in 2001, accused of collaborating with Al-Qaeda.
Then there was Sami Al Haj, the Al-Jazeera cameraman, who was arrested in Pakistan in 2001 while he was going for a journalistic assignment in Afghanistan, and has been held in Guantanamo Bay ever since.
And now, there is Pulitzer prize-winning Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, who has been imprisoned by the U.S. military in Iraq since April 2006 without a trial or even being charged. The military claimed then that he had suspicious links to insurgents, but now they're saying that he is a "terrorist" who had "infiltrated the AP."
In the 19 months since he was picked up, Bilal has not been charged with any crime, with the military sending out a mix of ever-changing, false or overblown claims.
And now even though the military says they'll be taking him to court in an Iraqi court, there's still nothing about the date, what charges will be brought against him, what evidence they have or anything.
The common belief is that Bilal's crime was taking photographs the U.S. government did not want its citizens to see.
Who's next on the list of journalists, simply doing their job, to be thrown in jail under the claim they're terrorists, just because they're Arabs and covering something the US and its allies don't want covered?
Yahoo! Helped Jail Chinese Journalist
Four Lebanese Jailed For Rude Commentary On Facebook
GTA Influence Puts Man In Jail
Taysir Alluni Sentenced to 7 Years in Jail
World Press Freedom DayLet's suffice by saying, the US' way of handling such "crimes" is a walk in the park, compared to others. Freedom of press is oxymoron.
Posted by: medusa at November 28, 2007 04:42 PMI find it fascinating that you are quite willing to comment about other nations throwing journalists in prison, but do not make mention of this happening here in Tunisia. Are you truly against censorship, or simply against other people doing the censoring?
Posted by: Sara Kliti at December 4, 2007 09:57 AMAre we really expecting justing to be given by an occupying military force? We got to be kidding..
ما غُزي قوم قط في عقر دارهم إلا ذلوا
-Imed
Posted by: Imed Chihi at December 15, 2007 12:08 PM
