MPs are divided over Press law
MPs were divided yesterday over whether or not criminal punishments should be handed out to journalists who break a new Press law.
Some argued for the inclusion of articles in the draft law that allow jail sentences of up to six months for anyone who criticises His Majesty King Hamad or Islam.
However, others said that criminalising any type of journalism would make Bahrain appear backward and fly in the face of its ongoing reforms.
MP Dr Ali Ahmed Abdulla said punishments should be left for the courts to decide if an article causes any real damage.
“Publications should not be pre-censored,” he said.
“We have a court system to decide whether there should be any punishments.
“I don’t want any other authority telling the public what is a right or wrong idea.”
MP Fareed Ghazi, who is also a lawyer, called for any prison sentences to be removed from the draft law.
“Any references to criminal punishments should be taken out,” he said.
“This region of the world already has a bad reputation when it comes to dealing with the Press.”
The majority of MPs yesterday agreed that monitoring and censoring of local newspapers and magazines should not be introduced.
However, two MPs called for all books in Bahrain to be censored before they are published or imported.
Islamist MP Ali Mattar said it is impossible to monitor every newspaper and magazine that comes out, but argued that the government should have strict control over books that are published or imported.
“There are books about magic, there are books criticising religion,” he said.
“Freedom of speech shouldn’t mean that we should allow these things in our country.
“Some publications could cause a sectarian war. What is the use of taking the matter to court after something like that happens?”
But moderate MPs disagreed and said there shouldn’t be anything to fear from the Press.
“The Press has a long history in Bahrain and the number of daily newspapers has grown to eight over the decades,” said MP Yousif Zainal.
“For the most part the Press has been pretty responsible in this country.
“There may have been some mistakes here and there, but they are very small compared to the number of years the newspapers have been operating.”
The Press law will be further debated at an extraordinary session on Saturday.
GDN :: Tariq Khonji :: 19 Apr ’06