PLO official against law to allow PA control of the media

Headline: “Khaled: Implementation of the electronic crimes law must be quickly frozen”

“PLO Executive Committee member [and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine Political Bureau member] Tayseer Khaled, in a post on social media, demanded that the Palestinian [PA] government freeze implementation of the electronic crimes law without conditions or restrictions.

Khaled added: ‘Many friends have asked me about my opinion on the electronic crimes law, which was issued in June [2017] with the approval of [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas, and this question has been repeated again and again in light of the arrests of several journalists in Gaza on charges of sending news items to Ramallah, and the arrests of other journalists in Ramallah on charges of publishing news items that are liable to harm the welfare of the state, its public order, or the internal or external security, relying on clause 20 of this law.’

He continued: ‘My position on all of this has been as clear as the sun that I oppose this law that demonizes journalistic activity, violates the rights that are anchored in the PA constitution and the Press, Publication, and Publishing Law, and shirks all of the obligations that Palestine took upon itself when it was accepted as an observer member in the UN and joined approximately 40 international conventions in 2014, including the basic human rights conventions’…

Tayseer Khaled ended his post by saying: ‘In addition to this, I think that the accusations directed at the arrested journalists, whether in Gaza or the West Bank, are completely unacceptable accusations, because it is possible to use them in a way that is arbitrary and opposes the law in order to tarnish the political and national leanings of those working in journalism (demonization of journalistic activity) [parentheses in source]. It is also possible to use them in the atmosphere of the [Fatah-Hamas] rift as an unfair means of struggle and a tool of mutual pressure and bargaining, which is liable to end with a [Fatah-Hamas prisoner] exchange deal that arouses anger, like what unfortunately happened recently.’”

[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, Aug. 15, 2017]