Journalists Detained in Bahrain
Rather interesting news... could this be the start of something colorful?...Four U.S. journalists detained in Bahrain: journalists group
DUBAI/WASHINGTON
A U.S. journalist and three members of her camera crew were detained in Bahrain on Sunday, Reporters Without Borders said on Monday, urging Bahrain to release the four American citizens "rapidly and without harm."
In a statement, the group described Anna Day and her three colleagues as experienced journalists, who had most recently worked on virtual reality documentaries in Egypt and Gaza.
Earlier, Bahraini police said they had detained four foreign nationals on Sunday. Bahrain's interior ministry said in a statement the four were "suspected of offences including entering Bahrain illegally having submitted false information to border staff, and participating in an unlawful gathering."
The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports that U.S. citizens had been arrested but declined further comment, citing privacy considerations.
A spokesperson for Day's family rejected any suggestion that the four were involved in any illegal behavior or non-journalistic activities.
The Arabic-language Mira'at al-Bahrain (Bahrain Mirror) said the four were detained in Sitra, a Shi'ite village east of Manama, on Sunday while covering clashes between local demonstrators and security forces.
The demonstration was meant to mark the fifth anniversary of widespread Arab Spring protests in 2011 mainly by Shi'ite Muslims demanding reforms and bigger share in government.
Those protests were put down violently by Bahrain security units with help from security forces from Gulf Arab states including Saudi Arabia. But the kingdom, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based, continues to see bouts of unrest, especially in villages where Shi'ites are a majority.
Day has reported in the Middle East, northern Africa, India, Brazil and Mexico and her work has been published in the New York Times, CNN, Al Jazeera English, Huffington Post, CBS, Daily Beast and other media.
(Reporting by Sami Aboudi in Dubai and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Ruth Pitchford and Frances Kerry)
Comments (8)
Quatama Bay has held men for years and years without trial, so it seems whole world is at it. Reckon all political
Bahrain has freed an American journalist and her camera crew after accusing them of participating in an illegal gathering, and they are expected to fly out of the country shortly, the group's lawyer said on Tuesday.
Bahraini lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi and media campaign group Reporters Without Borders identified the four as U.S. journalist Anna Day and three members of her camera crew, all of them U.S. citizens.
Bahrain's public prosecution office did not name those arrested, but said it had ordered the release of four Americans after interrogating them.
"They are on their way to the airport," the group's lawyer, Mohammed al-Jishi, told Reuters by telephone. A witness said the four appeared to be in good health.
Reuters.com
Thanks Al, Jim, Ian, and Red for your comments and concerns regarding these journalist.
One thing our journalists must understand when they go to other countries, they DO NOT have the same freedom to move about, speak and/or ask questions as they please...as when journalists from other countries come to America...sad
Yeah Al, you're so on point, and so many so-called Hollywood entertainers/celeberaties/stars in their own minds
Why hasn't Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen and the rest of the trash in Hollywood left?
The people who did such a terrible deed are dead. If i remember correctley at the time investigations proved those dreadful men had been trained to fly in your country. They had gone under the net so to speak. This kind of evil does that in whatever country because it is not like a big army, they could be living next door to you.
The people held without trial for all those years if not terroist certainly would be now.
It is unimagnable to be held in prison under those terrible conditions when you know you are innocent. Can you imagine that Jim??