Gaza - 22/9/2014:  The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) wrapped up a two-day training workshop for journalists in Gaza on the subject of freedom of expression and media legislations. This workshop comes in the framework of a project funded by the European Union.

MADA’s coordinator in Gaza Ahmad Hammad presented MADA’s activities and programs for the promotion of freedom of expression and media freedoms including its role in monitoring violations against media freedoms, defending journalists, and ensuring that the local legislations related to the media, freedom of expression and right to access information are consistent with international standards. He also talked about MADA’s role in promoting freedom of expression among the community and developing the media in Palestine.

On the first day, Al-Aqsa University media professor Dr. Zuheir Abed presented the national and international concepts of freedom of expression. Besides, he talked about the status of freedom of expression in Palestine, as well as the negative impacts of media freedoms violations on the media and society.

He also explained the actions considered as crimes in the penal law, i.e. defamation, slander, and libel, as well as the differences between them and the situations in which journalist might be exposed to liability when publishing journalistic pieces including any of these crimes.

On the second day, the academic researcher Dr. Majed Tirban talked about media laws and the legal protection of journalists. He also explained the international law related to the media, particularly the aspects concerning the legal protection of journalists, as well as the work of the judiciary and the rules of media coverage of judiciary news. He also introduced the draft Access to Information law and discussed it with the participants.

The workshop included practical trainings where participants were divided into working groups and talked about the main elements of human rights law and freedom of expression according to the national and international legislations governing media freedom.

The participants asked numerous questions about the status of media freedoms and expressed their appreciation of the quality of the discussions held during the workshop.

At the end of the training, certificates were handed to all participants. This course is part of a series of similar trainings and workshops MADA has been conducting in different cities of the West Bank and Gaza Strip