JEDDAH: Heads of press organizations in the Kingdom have said that the amendments to the Press and Publications Law announced this week will serve to promote “controlled media freedom”. Waleed Kattan, Director General of Okaz Organization for Press and Publication, said the amendments show that the Kingdom is moving toward “media security and stability” and turning its back on “uncontrolled personal opinions”. “The media has its need for openness but the rules will serve to rein in personal attacks,” he said. Kattan said that the two committees set up to hear cases involving the media are particularly significant. “They show that the leadership seeks to open up wider fields for the media but with a controlled freedom that protects the tenets of the religion and public interests,” he said. Abdul Hafeedh Qari, Director General of Al-Bilaad Press and Publication, said the amendments represented part of the “reform and modernization process in one aspect of media laws in the age of information and technology”. “They afford considerable flexibility to some of the ‘frozen', or almost frozen, texts in the publications law,” he said. “King Abdullah keeps apace of modern changes with the amendments which will resolve a lot of controversies and various understandings in publishing cases and information crimes through the procedures to deal with them. They clarify the authorities responsible and their jurisdiction, and set out relations between the parties involved both in the Kingdom and abroad should technology be used to slander people.” He said that amendments to Article 9 requiring “objective and constructive criticism in the public interest based on facts and correct testimonies” and which outline seven areas from which published materials must refrain, had made expressly clear what had previously been “left up in the air”, and added that increased fines for offenses were “necessary deterrents against attacks on the fabric of society or its scholars or demeaning tenets and values”. “They will support journalistic work and only the chairman of the Cabinet can halt it, and that provides great backing for journalism and distances it from the fear of closure,” Qari said. “The existence of more than one committee also gives journalists a lot of flexibility in defending themselves.” Hatim Mou'mina, Director General of Asir Press and Publication, agrees that the two committees are a positive move, as they are “composed of specialist members” and are “fully independent”. “There is no interference in their decisions or investigations from any other body,” he said. “The media in the Kingdom has taken a different course in the last 10 years. Doors have opened for the expression of opinion on various issues, and the new amendments confirm the need for expressing opinion without exclusion but with controls in accordance with religious tenets and national values that are non-negotiable.” Mou'mina said that information should be verified before it is published, and reiterated the importance of responsibility in handling editorial material and showing respect for opinion. “This protects the journalist and the organization and the sector,” he said. Muhammad Al-Ghamdi, Director General of Al-Madina, called upon persons in the media to work with “credibility” and to “get news only from its source and refrain from slander”. “The leadership seeks to protect all Saudis and non-Saudis alike from slander,” he said. “The two committees will work to apply the laws to guarantee the rights of both the publisher and those mentioned in what is published.” The Royal Decrees announced Friday contained five amendments to the Nov. 2000 Press and Publications Law. The first concerned Article 9 of the law, barring the publication in any form anything that violates Islamic Shariah rulings or laws in force, any calls for breaches of security or public law or anything serving foreign interests in conflict with national interests, anything slighting the Grand Mufti or members of the Board of Senior Ulema, dignitaries of the state or any of its employees, or any person of ordinary standing or any legal person. It also bars incitement of division between citizens, incitement to crime, anything damaging to the country's public affairs, and the publishing of details of investigations or trials without obtaining permission from the legally authorized authority. The other four amendments outline the composition and jurisdictions of the primary and appeals committees to look into violations of the Press and Publications Law and penalties to which offenders are subject.
