Palestine Media Forum condemns PA’s detention of journalist

The Palestine Media Forum (PMF) yesterday condemned the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s detention of journalist Hassan Al-Najjar after he called President Mahmoud Abbas’ house, Safa news agency reported.

In a statement, the PMF stated that Al-Najjar made the call to protest against being dismissed from Palestine TV, the PA’s official station.

The PMF “looks very seriously at the detention of journalist Al-Najjar and condemns the media blackout imposed on the case of his detention,” pointing out that the journalist “has been in prison for several weeks, while the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate is ignoring him.”

“This blackout reflects the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate’s double standards in relation to defending journalists and freedom of speech,” the PMF said.

Al-Najjar’s father has said that his 33-year-old son has been in prison in Ramallah for more than 25 days.

“My son worked at Palestine TV for 10 years,” the father said. “Four years ago, a dispute took place between him and Ahmad Assaf, the general director of the station. My son was defamed and punished,” he added.

The PMF said that the media in the West Bank has refrained from publishing anything about Al-Najjar’s detention fearing repercussions from the PA.

READ: Israeli soldiers held BBQ in prison cell to break Palestinian hunger-striking journalist Al-Rimawi