Ramallah – 31st March 2024. The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) denounces the arrest of journalist AHMED AL-BITAWI on Friday evening from the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank while covering a support march for Gaza Strip.
According to a statement by the journalist’s wife to MADA Center, “Journalist AHMED HAMED BETAWI (41 years old), who works for Sanad Agency, was, on Friday evening, 29th March, in the center of Nablus to cover the march that began in the city of Nablus in support of Gaza Strip”.
"At about 9:00, members of the Palestinian Intelligence arrested journalist AL-BITAWI at the Martyrs' Roundabout. They also seized his vehicle and transported him to the Mukataa. For four and a half hours, the journalist's family did not know any information about him, except that his wife continued to call his phone number, which was not closed until the security personnel allowed the journalist to answer his wife at around 1:30AM, on Saturday. His wife learned that he had been transferred yesterday, Saturday, to Al-Junaid Prison in the city of Nablus.
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms “MADA” denounces the arrest of journalist AL-BEITAWI by the Palestinian General Intelligence Service, and views his arrest to be quite serious as it took place while he was performing his media work in light of the harsh conditions that the Palestinian people are going through, which require facilitating the mission of journalists to expose the crimes of the occupation forces and its authorities to the whole world. MADA further demands the immediate and unconditional release of the journalist and to stop the persecution of journalists by the Palestinian security services so that their suffering does not worsen from all sides.
