JEDDAH: The recent move by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice to seek judicial action against those who defame them has evoked a fiery response from Saudi legal experts, who say journalists have the legal right to report news and that members of all government bodies are open to criticism as long as it is supported with evidence.
The legal experts also say that the only government body that can question journalists is the Journalist Violations Committee of the Ministry of Information.
It is unclear whether the commission’s decision to seek legal action against media outlets includes coverage in the international media. When asked if the rule applies to the international media too, the commission stopped short of complete acquiescence.
The commission said it would open new channels of communication with the international media to convey their side of stories. It was not clarified how and with whom the channels would respond.
Shariah defines defamation as tash’hir — harming the reputation of someone or an institution in public. However, lawyers, judges and religious scholars differ in its interpretation. It is here where the debate begins on what exactly constitutes tash’hir.
According to Ibrahim Al-Zamzami, a Saudi legal expert based in Makkah who issued a case of tash’hir against a local Arabic daily, journalists themselves should not be made liable, but rather the establishments they work for. Al-Zamzami said the concept of tash’hir has been misunderstood. “Each one expressing his opinion is now accused of tash’hir, which is applicable only when the individuals are harmed,” he said.
“Addressing the commission’s faults is just like criticizing any other government body. This is not tash’hir,” he said, adding that journalists have the right to follow up on news and that this right is protected by the government. Such news, added Al-Zamzami, includes social issues.
He said the commission must be transparent. “Why doesn’t the commission acknowledge faults committed by its members?” he said, adding, “We should not defame the reputation of the commission in general as it performs a good role in the community.”
Sultan ibn Zahim is a lawyer who represented the commission in a highly publicized case involving the deaths of two young men and two women after the commission chased them in the Al-Kulail area of Madinah. The men and women were suspected of being in a state of khulwa (illegal seclusion).
Ibn Zahim defined defamation as journalists reporting incorrect details about incidents involving the commission. He said that he has previously suggested to commission members that they improve relations with the media and use it for their benefit rather than pursuing the judicial route.
Asked about documentation that can protect reporters in cases of libel, he said this could include recordings, faxes and e-mails. He added that the Ministry of Information is the only government body that can question journalists.
Ibn Zahim stressed that commission members can also be questioned and investigated. “They (commission members) are human beings and can make mistakes,” he said.
He said that the commission has not issued guidelines on how its members should conduct themselves. The members are guided by what they themselves view as right or wrong. “They have power, this is something that many do not comprehend,” said ibn Zahim while justifying the right of the commission to inspect and arrest people.
Sheikh Salih Al-Shamrani, a religious scholar, said the concept of tash’hir includes information that harms people in society. When asked if criticism would be valid when the subject is institutions or government bodies, he said that such discourse would be useful and might help negativities.
However, when asked if the commission could also be criticized, he said journalists should stay away from such topics because the commission is a body that has contributed in many positive ways to society and does not deserve to be attacked.
On the ministry’s role in protecting reporters who are accused by the commission of defaming them, Abdullah Al-Jasir, the deputy minister of information in charge of media affairs, said that the ministry has three committees in charge of publication violations and that one of these committees is in charge of violations by journalists.
The committee, he said, includes officials from the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice, and other government bodies. He added that journalists accused of publishing misleading information would face an inquiry and that the published story or article would be studied.
Punishment, he said, does not involve imprisonment but comprises fines starting from SR50,000 and could include a ban on the journalist writing. He added that the publication would be asked to publish a correction at the same place where the defamatory article first appeared.
It is not only the definition of defamation that is a point of contention. An opinion writer who has had run-ins with the commission fears legal proceedings might muzzle writers.
“I see this statement as a threat to writers not to cross the commission or talk about it. It is sending a clear message to all opinion writers not to address commission issues,” said Mohammad Al-Suhaimi, who has criticized the commission in the local press.
Al-Suhaimi said the commission should concentrate on fixing its own problems, and be amenable to constructive criticism, rather than embarking on fresh judicial wrangling. “I understand the message as an attempt to cover up their wrong practices.”
He also questioned why the commission is seeking judicial recourse that takes a long time and added that if the commission presses charges against members of the press, then the media would also take legal recourse against the commission.
“The ongoing reforms in the judicial system would open the door for all to seek justice,” he said, adding that the commission must be ready to face legal challenges as more people would approach courts seeking justice against the commission.
A local reporter, who sought anonymity, said the commission “gives us a hard time as reporters.” He said he has been reporting incidents involving the commission and also interviewing people who have accused the commission of harming them. “When any incident takes place we call them for their side of the story. But they generally do not give us statement on the spot. We have to run the story based on what eyewitnesses say. Whenever the commission issues a report in the matter, even three or four days later, we run that as well,” he said, adding this could be avoided if the commission would cooperate more.
“If it wants its statements to be published the same day, then it would be helpful if they responded immediately rather than not answering reporters’ phone calls or taking several days to respond,” he said.
Hamid Abid, a Saudi who was named in a commission report for, reportedly obstructing commission members from doing their job, said that he should be the one speaking about the concept of tash’hir. Although he was named, no commission member was named in any published newspaper story on the issue.
Abid witnessed an incident in which commission members followed a woman into a women-only center in Madinah. Abid’s case has been transferred to the Investigation and Prosecution Board but, according to him, two months have passed and no action has been taken.
The commission had also previously announced it is preparing a memo to charge those who defame it on the Internet or mislead the public about it. Ibrahim Al-Huaimil, the deputy president of the commission, said the organization is basing its memo on the electronic criminal law system that was recently announced.
Abdul Muhsin Al-Gifari, the commission’s media and public relations manager, said the commission would seek justice against “those who bypassed publication rules and regulations.” This, he said, includes Tash’hir and harming the reputation of the commission and its members. He admitted that commission members have harmed individuals. He, however, insisted on the commission’s rights to seek justice if its reputation is sullied.
With regard to the regulation guide that would specify the work of commission members, he said the commission is yet to issue one. The guidelines would be set up in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice and other government bodies.
The commission, he said, follows the legal system. But the legal system incorporates articles that safeguard the rights of individuals. The first article of the system states: “No one is to be arrested, investigated, detained, or imprisoned except according to stated law. Detention and imprisonment has to take place in the specified places and for specified period of time. It is prevented to harm the detained individual physically or emotionally. It is also banned to punish him or treat him in a way that harms his dignity.”
The third article states: “Each accused person has the right to have a legal representative or a lawyer during both the investigation stage and trial.”
Many feel that if the dichotomy in the commission’s speech and action is done away with then there could be better coordination and cooperation between the body and the public.
