Muscat: Three journalists of Al Zaman Arabic daily will stand trial this week after the daily published reports that targeted the country’s judiciary system, the Oman Human Rights Commission (OHRC) said in a statement.
OHRC added that the three journalists are being held in police detention in preparation for the initial investigation and then trial.
The men have been afforded all their legal rights, OHRC said, but remained tight-lipped over their exact whereabouts due to concerns over their safety.
“There will be a fair trial and OHRC representatives will be present at the hearings,” the statement said.
The case, which has polarised public opinion in the country, has garnered regional and international attention.
Last week, the Omani government ordered Al Zaman to close its offices after it published two reports accusing top officials in the government of pressuring the judiciary to change a ruling in an inheritance case.
The newspaper violated freedom of expression by running the report, the government said in a statement run by ONA, the state-run news agency.
The Government promised legal action against the journalists but said freedom of expression “remains an authentic value that cannot be evaded and that freedom of expression should become a responsible action that is not motivated by any personal impulses”.
The daily published a story on July 27 titled “Supreme bodies tie the hands of justice”, accusing government officials of pressuring top judges in the Supreme Court to overturn a decision in an inheritance case.
Yousuf Al Haj, a reporter, interviewed the vice-president of the Supreme Court, who said that the judiciary is in a “pitiful state” and there are many violations.
Al Haj said on his Facebook account that he has solid documents he obtained from a government official, which prove the involvement of top officials in corruption cases.
On social media, many Omanis were sympathetic with the daily, saying it exposed corruption in the country. Speaking to Al Hayat newspaper, a top Omani official said that newspapers were publishing such news after the government suspended financial support to local newspapers due to an economic crisis due to the slump in oil prices.
