No one above law, says top Qatar official

i'll believe this when i see it...a one off case to use as an example amidst the loads of injustice happening every single day doth not a great judiciary make...

It sure sounds nice, to bad it's a pile of bull crap.

like everyone here in Qatar know what goes from the top to bottom,,..& how important is Wasta/Influence here ,, still don't 'they' think twice before publishing such articles in Newspapers?!

~noms~
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"Before God we are all equally wise ' and equally foolish" - Albert Einstein

pity,,they don't!!.. also, Newspapers publish it with pride..makes one another reason, people loosing trust in Media & Journalism.

iam sure,many of these top officials also know what false statement is this.

~noms~
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"Before God we are all equally wise ' and equally foolish" - Albert Einstein

QatarLiving is free!

Love doesn't exist until you do it
(MagicDragon)

if there is a law, there is always an exemption.

:P

surely there is signs of improventment in the judical system and giving equality rights to all nationals.. Good going Qatar

luvtodrive, that's what you call democracy :-o

This is such great PR for the judiciary dept...after all, if you see in print people WILL believe it.

This is just more of the same. There was probably some negative talk about injustices going unnoticed and they felt compelled to address these negative "rumors" in the papers. Yawn. ;O

We, who work here, all, know the level of integrity this countries displays and this reputation is becoming well known in the west among those who have never been here.

Qatar is starting to be known by its hunger for fame and good reputation and instead of improving things, they just hide the problems under the carpet!
Look how the article puts it: “In other Arab countries, the political will to combat corruption is missing”

What makes these guys think that they are any better from other Arab countries?!?!?!

truthfulvisitor,
I like your summary of the daily news published here in Qatar (no matter which newspaper), it’s so true! Sad, but true!

truthfulvisitor: good work done with giving the NewsPapers Outline,,its truely a Crash Course on NewsPapers here.

True enough they publish what sells their papers & what brings them sponsorship.

~noms~
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"Before God we are all equally wise ' and equally foolish" - Albert Einstein

I have a lot of hope for Qatar because of some of the younger Qataris I have met who really want the change the government states exists to actually become reality. While this single case of 4 ministers being subjected to the justice system may be true, we all know there are many more cases where this is not true. HOWEVER, I believe that is largely due to some of the "Old Guard" here in Qatar who are resisting the Emir's plans for the country. In time they will die out or lose more power, but it takes younger people applying pressure for change to become reality.

I didn't drink the kool-aid! -- PM

Which English local dailies are you referring to self-censoring themselves?

All news media do, indeed, have a perspective and an agenda on the news. (Look at Al Jazeera!) There's a big difference between a news editor trying to sell his paper and a bureaucrat rewriting his paper for him.

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"let's slip out of these wet clothes and into a dry martini" Mae West

professionalism among those who work in the English Language media here. Most are poorly trained Indians (sorry but it's true) who probably feel they don't have a lot of options elsewhere and are happy to be employed in Qatar so willingly sacrifice any standards they may have to begin with.

I didn't drink the kool-aid! -- PM

Corruption its ragaing here its funny to think its not and that they are tough on it. They destroy honest, hard working people and wonder why the country is in such a decline, they suck their blood and throw them away. Businessmen have to bribe everyone to get a job, I hope the new generation will learn but given who their teachers are I doubt it will be anytime soon. At least they know who not to work for. A few people run the country and they will always stay that way, too much money and power involved.

gadarene,
I suppose you are right. Working in the Middle East is a professional down grade for most of us!

An article by Qatari Writer Dr. Rabiah Al Kuwari on today's Alsharq newspaper

Many of us believe that the many questions marks in the area of corruption revolves around the Doha Securities Market. given the importance of this market and the nest of agents whom their goal is the acquisition of rewards by the "Big Fish society" as a result of all the work they are doing to achieve their personal interests.This corruption at the expense of "small investors " who have no one to guide them or help them, or through the media make them aware of how to deal with the stock market through buying and selling or speculation daily, especially in times of crisis.

The information concerned with public funds in the state must be absolutely disclosed and made available to the citizen as his rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the country in the area of freedom of access to documents, data and information

institutions and ministries to work on the disclosure of this information and must be published for public opinion and logical controls based on the public interest first, because this thing protects the government from embarrassment or defamation in the future

This will be undertaken through open meetings with the public to define the work of the state and its achievements in various fields a.. This comes in line with the right of free access for the people and their participation in decision-making .. Which is the right way of transparency and accountability.

The appointment of some ministers in certain ministries and then stripped of office after several months or a year or more just means that there is an error and miscalculation in the box.When choosing a minister, It is the duty of decision-makers to make their choice based on : good conduct, personal documents, , chastity and honesty in his previous work, and his work within the community, and his education .. All of this will contribute to the selection of the appropriate minister in the right place .. In all countries , factors are taken against corruption from the top of the pyramid of power down to the base and must strike a balance in wealth and its fair distribution among all strata of society away from the bias .. Peoples have become aware, within all classes: upper or middle or bottom.

Genesis,
I am sorry to be frank with you, but the reputation of your "Big Fish Society" is extremely questioned and in doubt.
The culture, the political system, the lack of integrity and the lack of transparency can only continue to feed corruption at all levels, no matter what the papers are permitted to publish.
Law is selectively applied by people that are placed below the “Big Fish”, thus no power to enforce that law (your roads and your smoking Malls are a great testimony of this useless law enforcement).
The law itself is very vulnerable and it can change without any warning to any desired direction at any time!
In such conditions, can one even talk about justice and fighting corruption?!

I would ask him to walk out of the door and if he looked he could find someone breaking the law within seconds.

/-a-t-/ PM..."nevertheless"???...i already made it VERY clear that most Indian media professionals HERE are /-a-t-/ the BOTTOM of what is a VERY LARGE pile back home but your post is EXTREMELY MISLEADING in that,reading it,one would think ALL Indian media professionals are of the same abysmally low standard one finds here & THAT is as far from the truth as one can get...i "read" both local english "papers" in a matter of minutes every morning & miss my Times of India almost every single morning...please focus on the point i'm trying to make i.e about your post being misleading & generalizing ALL Indian media professionals,as is clear,we're both in agreement of the fact that English media standards here,Indian or any other nationality are not just low,but non-existant.fair enough?

firstly.... I will state, media is not my choice of career... I came here for an admin position, but circumstances within the organisation saw me placed on a desk doing the job I do now. I am not a reporter, I'm in production, but I speak with first hand experience.

I got here at the start of the paper, everyone was gungho about being in a new country with new possibilities. The atmosphere was electric - our paper was made up of a few college grads, and quite a number of experienced hands.

Then come the blows - you cannot print anything vaguely opposite to government stances, you can only print press releases, and you are not allowed to change them, bad english or not... Trying to get interviews with people is like trying to reach the US president - impossible - phone call after phone call, lists of questions, approval of questions, wanting to see the story before it goes to print and then frequently changing or retracting statements - trust me when I tell you, its soul destroying to watch jounalists running around putting out fires because something that shouldn't have been printed was and now the poor guy/girl is getting stick from everyone because "he/she should have known better". Trying not to offend your sponsor, because you have printed a piece about a rival company's product in his newspaper(ie, he owns other businesses).

It's not easy being a reporter here, believe me - yes, sometimes we get sub-standard reporters who maybe couldn't cut it in their country, but for the most, they are eager to do the job - if only there was a job to do.

Message from the QL Animal Section Editor:

Your post has been deemed ignorant.

You have been tracked.

Ready... Aim....

Congratulations... you have been Eliminated!

visit www.qaws.org

No too sure if the above are isolated cases but the way how things are going on the ground dosen't speaks for itself. One glaring examples are the locals acting above the laws without any hindrances from the behaviour on the road to and social attitudes. Indeed its a good start if indeed be.

Genesis,
I wished for the good of Qatar, more of you would be like you!
I sincerely hope that you are right and that change will be noticeable before it’s too late!