Public Prosecution seeking closure of a local paper



I was reading OmanForum last night and came across this thread about the Public Prosecution attempting to have local Arabic Daily paper Azzamn closed, apparently due to the papers insulting the Minister of Justice and his Undersecretary on May 14th, 2011 when an article was run about a MoJ employee who had written a letter of complaint saying that the Minister of Justice and his Undersecretary were intentionally delaying his Promotions.

Muscat Daily ran this story last Sunday, and I must admit I missed it then. It amazes me how petty this really is, and that these people actually have the time to go through court over something so.... pathetic. Freedom of the press is something that is touted and promoted here in Oman, yet then something as daft as this happens every now and then, which then scares all the news publishers back to publishing fluff and press releases again. I didnt read the article in question from May in the paper that has caused all of this but surely seeking the closure of a paper is just way over the top. If the article is indeed slanderous then sure the people affected can argue their case, but seeking closure of a publication over it? That seems a bit ridiculous to me, but then again I still don't really know what was said in the paper, or what the paper is actually like.

Anyway, I think the whole thing is stupid, these people should have more important things to be doing with their time. If anyone happens to know more information about this case, please share!

More tomorrow.

le fin.


Public Prosecution seeking closure of a local paper Public Prosecution seeking closure of a local paper Reviewed by Sythe on Saturday, August 20, 2011 Rating: 5

4 comments:

  1. the tantrum is probably to do with the inability of all concerned to accept criticism
    it is quite possible that the aggrieved employee was working above the ceiling of his ability and he ran out of appropriate wasta to continue the move upwards
    and on the other hand entrenched staff who are unable to accept criticism and unable to explain why a decision was taken by either them or their minions
    given that the paper probably relies of government handouts to survive its future whatever happens doesn't look so good

    yours 'not shocked'

    ReplyDelete
  2. "working above the ceiling of his ability"

    You mean he was the "tea-maker"?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous #1 is probably more right than not.

    Cynically yours,
    Omani in US

    ReplyDelete
  4. It could be that the government is only trying to control the media. Either way there needs to be proper judgment.

    ReplyDelete

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