Journalist Support Committee: Banning Almasirah channel is contrary to International law

On Wednesday, November 28, 2018, the Journalist Support Committee received news of the banning of the Yemeni Almasirah TV channel on Nilesat. The channel reported on its website that the ban came after pressures exerted by the Saudi coalition, noting that it is the ninth time that Almasirah channel has been banned from broadcast since the beginning of the war on Yemen.

The banning of the Almassirah channel on Nilesat is contrary to international law and conventions, particularly Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees the freedom of expression and to hold opinion and the free flow of information without restrictions. The banning process constitutes a clear violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which affirms that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any means and regardless of frontiers.

The Journalist Support Committee condemned in the strongest terms the banning of the channel and indicates that the Saudi coalition would not dare to exercise these pressures that aim to muzzle and silence free voices, if they hadn't performed previous crimes against freedom of opinion and expression, and mainly the latest heinous crime of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The Journalist Support Committee affirms the legal right of the channels to broadcast, and notes that the continuation of the Saudi coalition in its violations regarding freedom of opinion and expression without the deterrent of the international community will put the press and the media and even the international conventions and laws in jeopardy, which requires a serious stand from the organizations concerned with freedom of opinion and expression to put an end to these repeated violations.

Journalist Support Committee - Switzerland
29 November 2018