Oman daily vows to appeal journalists’ jail terms

Ibrahim al-Mammari and Yousef al-Haj were sentenced to 5 months in jail Omani newspaper Azzaman has pledged to appeal a five-month jail sentence given to two of its journalists for insulting the Gulf state’s justice minister, it was reported Monday. The court of appeal on Saturday confirmed the jail terms given to journalists Yusef al-Haj and editor-in-chief Ibrahim al-Maamaria for an article published in May alleging corruption in the justice ministry, newswire AP said.
The court initially ordered the newspaper suspend its operations for a month but decided not to enforce the ruling. Another justice ministry employee was also given five months in prison for telling the journalists that a ministry employee had been denied his salary and benefits by the justice minister without valid cause.
Azzaman’s board of directors in a statement complained against the court’s failure to respect an agreement to acquit the pair in exchange for apologizing to the minister, the newswire said.