Alwaght- Bahraini activists paint suspension of the al-Wasat newspaper, country's only independent newspaper, as an illegitimate administrative move.
Bahrain’s Center for Human Rights (BCHR), headed by Nabeel Rajab, expressed deep concern over the Manama regime’s suspension of Al-Wasat newspaper.
Rajab, a prominent rights defender who was recently released from jail for health reasons, described the newspaper’s closure as an attack against freedom of expression, adding the recent restrictions would move the country towards a dark future.
The BCHR has demanded Manama immediately cancel the suspension of al-Wasat and allow it to continue its publications. It has also called on the Bahraini government to stop its targeting of journalists and writers, calling on Al Khalifa to end its use of the judiciary system as an apparatus to stifle journalism.
The Executive Director of Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), Husain Abdulla, also criticized the move by Manama, saying it was “an attempt to shut down the only free media in the country.”
Bahrain Mirror website also cited Lawyer Abdullah Al-Shamlawi as twitting "Article 28 of Decree-Law No. 47 of 2003 stipulates that it is not permitted to suspend a newspaper unless by a judicial verdict".
The Information Affairs Authority suddenly decided on Thursday (August 6, 2015) to suspend the Al-Wasat newspaper until further notice. The authority justified in a statement published by the Bahrain News Agency (BNA) on Thursday that this is due to "its violation of the law and repeated dissemination of information that affects national unity and the Kingdom's relations with other countries."
The Information Affairs Authority neither specified the suspension duration nor explained whether the newspaper can refer to the judiciary.
Al Khalifa regime issued in 2012 a controversial publication law, which its Article 85 stipulates that "Without violating the sanctions stipulated in this law, the newspaper can still be suspended for a period that does not exceed one year or have its license revoked if proven that it serves the interests of a foreign state or authority, or if proven that its policies contravene the national interest of the Kingdom of Bahrain, or if proven that it received, without authorization from the ministry, from any foreign state or party, any aid, assistance or benefit, of any form, for whatever reason, or under any pretext or name". The polemical law faced harsh criticism amon Bahrainis when passed.
It is noteworthy that the Information Affairs Authority sent a warning to the Al-Wasat newspaper on August 4, 2015 because of an article by one of the newspaper's writers and director of Manama Voice, Hani Al-Fardan, in which he criticized describing Shiites as traitors and the participation of Bahraini Members of Parliament in the meetings of "People's Mojahedin of Iran" also known as Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO). The warning of the Bahrain Information Affairs Authority read: "We inform you that the column contained false information that is considered a violation to the Decree-Law No. 47 of 2002 on the Organisation of the Press, Printing and Publishing, thus the Bahrain Information Affairs Authority sends this warning to your newspaper pursuant to Article 84 of the decree, stressing on the necessity to publish it in the first publication after receiving this warning, as stipulated in the aforementioned article."
For its part, the Bahraini cabinet announced on August 3, 2015 that it will take measures against the newspaper. The Bahraini Information Minister Issa bin Abdulrahman Al-Hammadi said in a press conference that "the ministry will take legal measures against local media outlets for publishing false information about Bahraini affairs according to directions issued on Monday (August 3, 2015) by the cabinet."
