Oman Human Rights Commission meets with detained journalists

Muscat: Oman Human Rights Commission (OHRC) yesterday met with Al Zaman newspaper’s journalists who are under custody namely Ibrahim Al Ma’amari, Editor-in-Chief, Yousef Al Haj and Zahir Al Abri. The visit was aimed at ensuring legality of their arrest procedures and their health conditions.
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The Commission affirmed that all the journalists under custody are in good health and that their arrest procedures were legal and took into consideration the human and personal aspects.
The accused were told about the charges against them.
The accused were allowed to call their families and provided with the due care. Necessary powers of attorney were made by all accused in favour of Ya’aqub Al Harthy, a lawyer who applied to defend them. The Commission requested the Public Prosecution to enable the accused to meet their lawyer before trial. The first hearing of the case by Muscat Primary Court will be held on Monday in the presence of the Commission.
The Commission appreciates the cooperation of the Public Prosecution and compliance with the legal procedures.
The OHRC delegation included the Deputy Chairman of the Commission, a member of the Commission; the Head of Monitoring and Reporting Committee, the Secretariat General of the Commission and a legal researcher from the Monitoring and Reporting Department.