New York, April 10, 2020 -- In response to Jordanian authorities’ arrest of Fares Sayegh, general manager of the privately owned satellite station Roya TV, and Mohammad Alkhalidi, the channel’s news director, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:“Jordanian authorities should be working with media outlets to inform citizens about the wide-ranging impacts of COVID-19, not jailing members of the press who expose public concerns about the virus and the government response to it,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Coordinator Sherif Mansour. “Fares Sayegh and Mohammad Alkhalidi must be released immediately and allowed to resume their work without interference from the authorities.”Today, the Jordanian military arrested both journalists following a public prosecutor’s order to detain Sayegh and Alkhalidi for 14 days over a news report highlighting workers’ complaints about the economic impact of the COVID-19 curfew, according to a statement published by the broadcaster and news reports.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 10, 2020 13:52 UTC