Media Council calls to cease efforts to find journalists

The Media Council has requested the Criminal Court to cease its efforts to find journalists’ source of information.

This came in a letter sent by the Media Council to Criminal Court today, in relation to the court's request from Sun Online to reveal the source of information of a news article published on Sun Online.

Media Council said in relation to the Criminal Court’s request to reveal the source of information of the article “Judge came to know of request for Shifan’s murder case report today”, that investigations by the council had revealed, as stated in the article, that the report was delayed due to an administrative error of the Criminal Court.

“The council believes that this impedes the protection guaranteed to journalists in article 28 of the Constitution, and also obstructs journalists’ freedom in carrying out their duties. We urge all groups to refrain from repeating such acts.”

The letter, addressed to Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdullah Mohamed, states that requests to reveal the source of information are efforts to obstruct press freedom.

Media Council also noted that while the incident was reported in the same manner also by other media groups, only Sun Online was asked to reveal the source of information.