Al Marri

DOHA: The press enjoys total freedom in Qatar. Not a single journalist has been sentenced to jail (in defamation suits) in the past eight years. This was disclosed by Dr Ali Fetais Al Marri, Qatar’s Attorney General, in reply to questions from reporters at a press conference at the end of the UN anti-corruption meet here yesterday.

“The media here expresses itself freely. There are no restrictions,” he said. Al Marri said Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development is included among NGOs and is involved in the fight against corruption. The Foundation in its capacity as an NGO was assigned observer’s status at the UN anti-corruption conference, he added.

"PRESS ENJOYS TOTAL FREEDOM IN QATAR": Al Marri

Web posted at: 11/14/2009 7:10:26
Source ::: THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The press enjoys total freedom in Qatar. Not a single journalist has been sentenced to jail (in defamation suits) in the past eight years. This was disclosed by Dr Ali Fetais Al Marri, Qatar’s Attorney General, in reply to questions from reporters at a press conference at the end of the UN anti-corruption meet here yesterday.

“The media here expresses itself freely. There are no restrictions,” he said.

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Jounalists - are you laughing or crying? Maybe a bit of both?

No one, not even the ministers, are above the law in Qatar, says the Attorney-General, citing the example of four ministers who were grilled along with other top officials in a corruption case some four years ago and asked to quit.

Some of them were from the ruling family. This amply demonstrates that there is political will in the country to fight corruption at the highest level.

In other Arab countries, the political will to combat corruption is missing, said the Attorney-General, Dr Ali bin Futais Al Marri, in a programme titled ‘Without Boundaries’ aired by Al Jazeera Channel recently.