I was thrilled to read in Al-Waqt in the weekend that the new minister of information, Jehad buKamal, affirmed that the new new Press & Publications Law will not stipulate any prison sentences against journalists [translate], except for denigrating God or the king.
The exception is accepted – for now – as otherwise the law will never get through this parliament. I will be really surprised if a brightspark or two of our esteemed members of parliament don’t stand against such a law and counter it by demanding that every single journalist or writer should be assumed guilty first and not only should they be imprisoned for their troubles, but also levy some public lashings against them too. Oh hang on, this actually had been suggested in the past, so let’s see how far they go this time!
The new minister has been a breath of fresh air at that ministry in particular and the government in general. So far, he has released some books which his ministry’s censorship office has withheld from publication or summarily banned for reasons they know best, has come out publicly against the imprisonment of journalists (and hopefully all opinion writers as guaranteed by our constitution anyway) and has lately commission none other than Al-Jazeera – which has so far been banned from reporting from Bahrain – to mount an investigative journalism course for several journalists and media personnel.
buKamal should certainly be encouraged and his steps fully supported.
This country has been quite haphazard in its information policies since the late Al-Moayed was relieved of his duties. Although much disliked for his strictness, he certainly was the one who dragged the ministry by the scruff of the neck and forced to work in a modern way. The staff at the ministry still remember him with fondness to this day! Whenever I speak to any of them about “the old days” you can see the dreamy look come across their faces as they speak of Tariq Al-Moayed. Like a strict headmaster, he was feared to be sure, but much loved too!
All those who have come after him were probably politically driven with a specific agenda which they believed was their duty to execute. However, the world instantly saw through their “valiant” PR efforts and labeled the ministry of information as nothing more than a government mouth-piece given exclusively to propaganda.
I know that buKamal has only been at the helm for a few months, but his actions so far bodes well. I just hope that what we see from him now is not another new manager honeymoon, soon to be replaced with the tried and tested “nodding dog” and “Yes” men syndromes which will invariably lead to the old ways.
I personally don’t think this will happen in buKamal’s case. He was an elected MP in the first parliament, then assigned by the king into the unelected Shura Council for the 2nd parliamentary term before being given this ministerial position. He also comes from a known merchant family and is a businessman of repute. All of these factors should undoubtedly help him turn this ministry around. Hopefully he will also be instrumental in closing it down altogether and delegate its traditional roles to the private sector by opening up the horizons for private media ownership.
Comments
Kareem’s got 4 years for defaming God and Mubarak…
The beginning of any journey is always the most exciting part…lets see how the rest of it turns out…
I actually met him not to long ago…he certainly has a fire lit about getting things done…I hope that fire doesnt get snuffed out like so many before him.
although it is a breath of fresh air, i wonder whether it will be applied or otherwise. a few laws have flown around but they haven’t always been applied well, if at all. lets see. can i start with a post defaming people and see how it goes from there?
صج وزارة الاعلام المÙÂروض يشخلونها شخال …. تلÙÂزيونالبØÂرينيلوع الجبد اللييجوÙÂÙ‡ للØÂينيØÂس انه عايش ÙÂالقرنالليطا٠…. الشيالوØÂيد الليطرا عليه التغيير هو نشرة الاخبار …. شوÙÂÙˆ تلÙÂزيوندبياو ØÂتى سما دبي…. برامجه متنوعة Ùˆ ØÂلوة ÙÂيها منالسياسة Ùˆ الثقاÙÂØ© Ùˆ الاخبار المØÂلية Ùˆ المسلسلات …. عسى ويه بوكمال يكونÙÂال خير على هالوزارة 🙂
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Still can’t defame God and King? hmmmm perhaps in another 10 years we’ll start to understand what freedom of speech actually entails and apply it… or perhaps we’ll take four steps backwards… who knows. I suppose its a good first step that we protect journalists and other political commentators, but as you well know Mahmood, sometimes they can just keep throwing you back into court and make you pay extortionate fee’s until its financially unfeasible to continue to question government. The next step should be to put an upper limit on costs defendants have to pay and setup legislation to force lawsuit happy government individuals to start footing the bill when they loose.
I can live a little bit longer without being allowed to criticize God and King… but if I don’t get it soon enough, I’m back to being an unhappy camper. For now, lets see how these laws work in practice and move on from there.
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