Ramallah (21/06/2020) – The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms "MADA" condemns the continued violations to pursue and arrest journalists and attacks on media freedoms in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the most recent of which was the arrest of the journalists Tawfiq Abdelaziz Abu-Jarad and Mahmoud Al-Louh by the Internal Security Agency in the Gaza Strip.
According to MADA researcher’s follow-up, the Internal Security Agency of Hamas government in the Gaza Strip summoned on Thursday (6/18/2020) the journalist Tawfiq Abdelaziz Mohammed Abu Jarad, to go to the agency today (21/26/2020) but a force from the police arrived at his house two hours later, and requested his presence immediately, knowing that he was not at home at that time. When Abu-Jarad returned Thursday evening to his house, he went to the Internal Security headquarters where he was arrested, and he is still arrested until this moment, without clarifying the reasons.
The next afternoon (Friday 19/6/2020), the reporter and presenter of Radio "Voice of the People" was arrested from his home in the city of Nuseirat, the journalist Mahmoud Al-Louh, and was transferred to the Nusseirat police station. There, Al-Louh was admitted to a cell and informed that he is under the custody of Bureau of investigation (according to the decisions of a high authority) and was held in the cell for about an hour and a half. After that, Al-Louh was transfered to the "Al-Baraish" police station, and there he was subjected to an investigation about photographing the attack against the elderly mother of Jaber Wishah and taking her to the hospital.
Journalist Al-Louh said in a statement to “MADA” Center: “I told them that this did not happen, and even if it did, then I only documented the incident because I am a journalist. However, I have not been in the place since the beginning of the event, and therefore I could not document what happened.” After the intervention of several authorities, the journalist Mahmoud Al-Louh was released at 11:30 before midnight, and on the morning of the next day he was re-investigated again after he went to the Nusseirat Center.
In the West Bank, The Palestinian security continues to arrest freelance journalist Sami Al-Sa’i since the ninth of this month, based on the Cybercrimes Law, where he was arrested for 48 hours at first, and then the Tulkarm Magistrate’s Court extended his detention for 15 days pending an investigation. It is worth mentioning that MADA's lawyer, who is following his case and defending him, stated that since last Thursday (6/18/2020), Al-Sa’i had not been interrogated after extending his detention.
“MADA” Center renews its condemnation of all acts that target journalists, and the attacks against media freedoms in Palestine that have not stopped. Also, it demands the security services affiliated to Hamas government in Gaza to release the journalist Tawfiq Abu-Jarad, as well as the Palestinian security services in the West Bank to release the journalist Sami Al-Sa’i, who has been detained for 12 days, and renew its demand to amend the Cyber Crime Law.
