MADA welcomed the release on bail of Quds TV correspondent Mamdouh Hamamrah but at the same time called for the release of Aqsa TV correspondent Tareq Abu Zaid.
(MADA/IFEX) – 8 November 2010 – The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) calls upon President Mahmoud Abbas to release journalist Tareq Abu Zaid, especially before the occasion of Eid Al-Adha and the anniversary of the declaration of the independent Palestinian state next week, so that he can spend Eid among his family and friends.
Today marks one year after the arrest of Abu Zaid in the city of Nablus in the West Bank. Abu Zaid was arrested on 8 November 2009 because of his work as a correspondent for Aqsa TV. He was sentenced to a year and a half in prison on 16 February 2010 in a Palestinian military court, in spite of a Supreme Court 12 January decision by the Supreme Court calling for his release.
Meanwhile, MADA welcomes the release of Quds TV correspondent Mamdouh Hamamrah on bail of 400 dinars (US$565) on the evening of 7 November. Hamamrah had been detained since 19 September. He was charged in a formal indictment on 25 October and his trial is scheduled for 23 November.
MADA demands that the authorities stop arresting journalists in the occupied Palestinian territories, and urges them to allow journalists to work freely, and to express their opinion safely without fear.
