Bahrain Mirror-Exclusive: The Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) called on the government of Bahrain to rescind an order suspending the online edition of Al-Wasat newspaper.

In a statement for the New York-based committee on (January 17, 2017), CPJ stressed "It is not clear what articles led to the suspension of the online edition, which republishes content from the print edition."

It added "The print edition of the daily newspaper was not affected. Al-Wasat's editor-in-chief, Mansoor Al-Jamri, told The Associated Press the paper was trying to get information from authorities about the order," indicating that "the ministry did not immediately respond to CPJ's written request for comment."

"Bahrain claims it respects press freedom. But any government that truly respects press freedom does not interfere with a news outlet's publication," said CPJ's Middle East and North Africa senior research associate, Jason Stern.

He further stated ""We call on the Bahraini government to immediately allow Al-Wasat to resume online publication and to stop censoring and harassing independent media.""

CPJ went on to say that "The action came at a tense time in Bahrain. On January 15, the government executed three men convicted of killing three police officers in a bombing in 2013, according to news reports. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights said the men had been forced to confess under torture. After the execution, violent clashes broke out between police and protesters."

Arabic Version