by publishing “fabricated” news and was sentenced to one-month in prison and a fine. - In June 2011, Al Jazeera’s correspondent Osama Sayed Ahmed was beaten by members of the Sudanese army when he was covering events in Damazin in the Blue Nile region. - In November 2012, cameraman Ali Mustafa was arrested and spent seven months in prison. The Sudanese government accused Al Ja- zeera, unofficially, of having prior knowledge about a military coup being prepared against President Omar al Bashir. Egypt : In March 2002, the Egyptian security forces arrested Al Ja- zeera’s crew members, who were covering a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause at Alexandria University. Bahrain: On May 10, 2002, Bahrain banned the Network and sus- pended its activities for two years. Saudi Arabia: In June 2002, Saudi Arabia accused Al Jazeera of insulting its royal family on one of its programmes. Consequently, the channel was not allowed to cover the Hajj pilgrimage the following year. Afterward, Al Jazeera was only allowed to cover certain events after obtaining special permission. Morocco : In October 2000, the Moroccan Interior Ministry or- dered Al Jazeera’s reporter, Iqbal Elhami, to temporarily stop working for the Network. She was eventually allowed to resume her work. But the Moroccan authorities kept terminating Ms. Elhami’s license and that of other journalists from time to time. Here are some examples of such violations: - In July 2005, the Moroccan authorities terminated the license of Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Rabat Abdeslam Razak for a short term, after broadcasting an interview with an activist from the Polisario Front– a separatist movement in Western Sahara. - On May 6, 2008, the Moroccan authorities cancelled the net- work’s permit to broadcast the channel’s “Maghreb Harvest” in their territory. A month later, the Morocco bureau chief, Hassan Al-Rachidi, was arrested after covering protests against the deteriorating living con- ditions and the spread of unemployment in the Sidi Ifni region. An inci- dent during which a security campaign was launched against Moroccan
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