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Your Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Sa’id: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to bring to your attention reports of an unfair trial of two Omani journalists and a civil servant sentenced to imprisonment on defamation charges. We ask you, in your capacity as head of the Supreme Judicial Council, to instruct the judicial authorities to respect the letter of the law and allow the defendants an opportunity to prove their innocence. This case will be appealed on October 15, and we hope the verdict against the newspaper and the three men will be reversed. We are also alarmed by the October 9 royal decree that amends an article in the Press and Publications Law, further tightening government control over the media, and urge you to consider the negative effect the amendment will have on independent media in Oman.
New York, August 12, 2011–The Sultanate of Oman is threatening to shut down the independent newspaper Al-Zaman for publishing an article alleging corruption in the Ministry of Justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The article’s author, prominent Omani journalist and filmmaker Youssef al-Haj, stands trial on Sunday and could face prison time if…