Impressive move
by mahmood on 05/05/08 at 12:40 pm
Draft law scraps jail terms for journalists
In a major move to give a further boost to the Fourth Estate in the Kingdom, the Cabinet yesterday endorsed a draft law to amend the 2002 Press legislation and scrap jail terms for journalists.
The weekly Cabinet meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, took the crucial decision on freedom of expression and opinion, which will now be forwarded to the Parliament for approval.
The move assumes significance coming as it does a day after the celebration of the World Press Freedom Day, when His Majesty the King, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa stressed on the important role played by the media in the Kingdom’s march on the path of progress and development besides the effective implementation of the reforms process.
The draft law also calls for the lifting of censorship imposed on local publications before they go to the Press, but will be applicable on the foreign Press received in the country.
The amendment seeks to shield those who exercise their right to freedom of expression from punishment as long as they preserve the political system’s privacy and fundamentals, the Kingdoms heritage and general decency.
Bahrain is considered as one of the countries in the region which has a high level of Press freedom, and this has been reiterated time and again by the leadership.
Mahmood’s Den
May 5th, 2008
[...] Impressive moveFree to speak outPress a cornerstone of reforms says KingHypnotised by Haifa hooplaMPs demand total [...]
Retooling the press law : Mahmood’s Den
May 5th, 2008
[...] In its weekly session held yesterday, the Cabinet declared that no journalist or writer is to be imprisoned for publishing their opinions. Wonderful! But even though I did not personally read the proposed amendments they sent to Parliament for discussion and ratification, I do not see any mention of the untying of the Press and Publications law and the Penal Code. In fact, what I do see is that this is the exact same thwarting law, but in a different guise: The amendment seeks to shield those who exercise their right to freedom of expression from punishment as long as they preserve the political system’s privacy and fundamentals, the Kingdoms heritage and general decency. – Bahrain Tribune [...]