Human Right Activists and Journalists
voice Reservations about
Private Media Law
The Secretary General for Bahrain Human Rights Society, Abdulla
Al –Drazy , expressed his reservation regarding a a memorandum filed
by the government to the Parliament on the Private Media Bill. He
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| Abdulla Al –Drazy |
said that some of the articles in the proposed law hinder journalism
especially those relating to authorising the Minister of Information
to stop a broadcast immediately. He also added that such articles
limit the scope of freedom, allow for malicious actions and put
the decisions at the mercy of the moods of the Minister. This can
also lead to investors refraining from establishing private channels.
According to Drazy the solution of this problem should be the responsibility
of the judicial authorities as they should always be referred to
regarding any breach. Drazy added that ‘Bahrain is very behind with
respect to establishing private channels, there must be a law which
increases the scope of freedom if these channels want to be distinguished
in their work’.
On the other hand, the President of the Transparency Society,
Abdul Nabi Al Ekri, stressed the need to be transparent in granting
licenses to these channels. He criticised the article, which states
that receiving no response for a channel license from the authority
within two months is regarded as a rejection; stressing that in
order to be transparent in the subject, reasons should be provided
or an opportunity should be given to the applicant to resort to
the court to look into the reasons for the rejection.
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