Oman court jails three journalists, orders daily shut

Muscut : An Omani court on Monday ordered the permanent closure of a newspaper which had reported on alleged corruption within the judiciary, and jailed three of its journalists on charges that included undermining the prestige of the state. Witnesses at the court said Ibrahim Al-Mamari, editor-in-chief of the privately owned Al Zaman newspaper, and his deputy and managing editor Youssef Al-Balushi, were jailed for three years and fined 3,000 rials each.

A third journalist was jailed for a year. Omani authorities suspended the newspaper in August for a month after detaining the three journalists. In a statement which did not mention Al Zaman by name, they said it had exceeded the limits of free speech and "drifted into ... harming one of the pillars of the state, the judiciary."

The Muscat Court of First Instance found Mamari and Balushi guilty on four charges, including undermining the prestige of the state, disturbing public order, misusing the internet, and publishing details of a personal status case. It also convicted Balushi of slander and of publishing a report in violation of a ban imposed by the Information Ministry on any reporting related to Mamari's arrest.

The third journalist, Zaher Al Abri, was sentenced to one year in jail and fined 1,000 rials.

The court set a bail of 50,000 rials for Mamari and Balushi in case they decided to appeal the rulings, while Abri's bail was set at 5,000 rials.