As World Cup nears, Qatar and FIFA face fresh scrutiny on press freedom commitments
Exactly one year before the scheduled start of the 2022 football World Cup in Qatar, plainclothes officers from the Gulf state’s Criminal Investigations Department arrested Halvor Ekeland and Lokman Ghorbani, a sports reporter and cameraman respectively for Norwegian state broadcaster NRK, as they were leaving their hotel in the capital of Doha. The NRK journalists…
Qatar detains Kenyan labor rights blogger Malcolm Bidali without charge
New York, May 18, 2021 – Qatari authorities should immediately disclose any charges against blogger Malcolm Bidali or release him, and not try to silence critical reporting on the country’s labor rights record ahead of the 2022 World Cup, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the night of May 4 to 5, Qatari…