Qatar retains 2 Norwegian journalists who report on working conditions
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Qatar has arrested two Norwegian journalists covering working conditions in the Gulf state ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup, their employer, a public broadcaster NRK, said Wednesday.
Halvor Ekeland and Lokman Ghorbani were arrested Sunday evening in Doha before their flight back to Oslo.
The TV reporters were held for more than 30 hours before being released and sent on a return flight, landing in Oslo on Wednesday morning.
Qatari officials said journalists “entered private property and filmed without a permit” at a migrant labor camp where they covered workers’ issues as the wealthy emirate prepares to become the first country in the Middle East to leave. host the world football tournament in one go. year.
Journalists said they had been given verbal permission to enter private property.
The security forces deleted the images they had collected.
The arrests sparked a diplomatic row between Oslo and Doha, with Qatar’s ambassador to the Nordic state summoned to the Oslo Foreign Ministry over the matter.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere called the arrests “unacceptable”.
The Prime Minister took to Twitter to express his joy that the two journalists were released, writing that “a free press is crucial in a functioning democracy”.
Human rights organizations have accused Qatar of abusive practices against migrant workers in the decade after winning the World Cup in 2010. In total, seven new stadiums were built and one stadium was renovated for the competition.
The labor reforms entered into force in September 2020, although a Guardian The survey found that a year later questions remained about the application of the new labor law, with migrants telling UK media that they had yet to see any changes.
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