| Kippreport.com

Complaint against Al Arabiya isn’t official, yet

November 1, 2009 8:49 by Muhammad Humaidan

There has been no official complaint of blasphemy against Al Arabiya news channel yet, a senior official has confirmed.

“We have so far not received any information about a case filed by a number of citizens against the channel,” Assistant Undersecretary for Local Media Abdul Rahman al-Hazza said.

Al-Hazza is heading the Ministry of Culture and Information’s three committees that deal with print, broadcast and publishing violations, as well as the rights of authors.

Last Thursday Arab News reported that the case had been filed at the Jeddah Summary Court, which in turn submitted it to the justice minister to refer to the ministry.

“Whenever we receive such a case we deal with it in the same way as other cases,” al-Hazza said, adding that the case would be studied prior to handing it over to the relevant committee.

He added the case against Lebanese channel LBC filed by sex braggart Mazen Abdul Jawad through his lawyer was still being considered. “When this is completed, the committee will issue its verdict and inform the litigants about it,” al-Hazza said.

He also denied receiving any complaint from the public prosecutor against Saudi woman journalist Iman Rajab, accused of being involved in the program featuring Abdul Jawad, who bragged about his sexual adventures on LBC. It was reported on Friday that the public prosecutor had decided to refer the case against her to the ministry’s committee on violations.

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Tags: Al Arabiya, blasphemy, charge, LBC, Saudi Arabia