Reporter on trial after exposing corruption

(26 Feb 2019) LEADIN:
A Palestinian journalist is appealing a conviction she received after exposing alleged Hamas corruption.
Hajar Harb was accused of slander and libel and sentenced to prison as a result of one of her reports.
STORYLINE:
Hajar Harb emerges from the court.
The Palestinian journalist is on trial as a result of her work.
She's facing libel and slander charges after an investigation in 2016 exposed alleged Hamas government corruption.
Harb reported that healthy people were paying doctors to help them circumvent the Israeli-Egyptian blockade by issuing medical referrals to hospitals abroad, a charge government officials deny.
Harb was sentenced in absentia while she was receiving cancer treatment in Jordan.
Harb is appealing a six-month prison term and fine.
She has appeared before the court today and the judge postponed the hearing until next month.
The case has been condemned by human rights organisations as an assault on press freedom.
"The harassment we face is not solely security; they are physical, psychological and affecting our source of income. I lost my income after my latest investigation," Harb says.
As recently as 2018, she was fired from a local media production company after another investigation piece raised suspicions that Hamas authorities gave donated housing units designated for the poor to ineligible beneficiaries.
Bakr Turkmani, lawyer from the Independent Commission for Human Rights, says he believes the case violates "freedom of opinion and expression, the freedom of journalism".
"It should be that those who were found to be corrupt are prosecuted, not those who revealed the corruption."
Harb has found support among her fellow journalists.
Journalist Fathi Sabah is leading a pro-Harb campaign.
He says it's the first time Hamas authorities have sued a journalist for their work since the Islamic militant group seized Gaza by force in 2007.
"We hope the judiciary will acquit Harb because this is a dangerous indicator of the deteriorating situation of journalists in the Gaza Strip," he adds.
On Monday, Amnesty International called Harb's prosecution "an outrageous assault on media freedom".

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...