(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 13 March 2002 letter to His Majesty King Abdullah Ibn Hussein, CPJ expressed its deep concern over several recent government attempts to stifle television news coverage of pro-Palestinian rallies in Jordan. On 5 March, the state-run Jordan TV (JTV) barred Reuters TV, Associated Press Television News (APTN), and Al-Jazeera from using […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 13 March 2002 letter to His Majesty King Abdullah Ibn Hussein, CPJ expressed its deep concern over several recent government attempts to stifle television news coverage of
pro-Palestinian rallies in Jordan.
On 5 March, the state-run Jordan TV (JTV) barred Reuters TV, Associated Press Television News (APTN), and Al-Jazeera from using its facilities to relay footage of pro-Palestinian students demonstrating at Jordan University.
That same day, Jordanian authorities confiscated footage of the same protest from a Reuters crew at the King Hussein Bridge, which links Jordan with the West Bank.
On 8 March, JTV refused to let journalists from several Middle Eastern broadcasters use its facilities to feed film of pro-Palestinian rallies at the Baqa’a refugee camp outside of Amman unless they agreed to make major content edits to the footage, according to one source.
The stations, Lebanon’s Al Manar TV, Al-Jazeera, and Abu Dhabi TV, agreed to the changes and were eventually allowed to use JTV’s facilities.
JTV, the only station with facilities to feed broadcast material in Amman, is regularly used by foreign broadcasters.
On 10 March, security forces confiscated the camera equipment of journalists working with APTN, Reuters TV, and Abu Dhabi TV after they filmed a pro-Palestinian rally at Jordan University. The cameras were returned without the tapes approximately forty-five minutes later.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the king:
– stating that these blatant attempts to censor undesirable news coverage violate basic press freedom standards
– calling on His Majesty to ensure that all journalists in Jordan are able to work without official hindrance
Appeals To
His Majesty King Abdullah Ibn Hussein
c/o Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
3504 International Drive, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
Fax: +202 966 3110
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
