RSF calls for release of Omani journalist and writer Sulaiman Al Moamari
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is very concerned about the arbitrary detention of Omani journalist and writer Sulaiman Al Moamari, who has been held in solitary confinement ever since his arrest by intelligence officials on 28 April without any official reason being given.
According to the local media, 42-year-old Al Moamari, who heads the national radio broadcaster’s cultural department, is being kept in solitary confinement by the Muscat section of the domestic intelligence agency, which summoned him for questioning on the evening of 28 April.
“The authorities must give their reasons for arresting Sulaiman Al Moamari and must say where they are holding him,” said Alexandra El-Khazen, the head of RSF’s Middle East desk. “We urge the Omani authorities to either bring charges against him, so that he has the right to a fair trial, or free him at once.”
Many Omani and Arab journalists and writers have voiced outrage at his detention, which is seen as tantamount to enforced disappearance. Al Moamari enjoys a great deal of popularity in Oman because of his many radio broadcasts, his writings and pro-democracy views. A petition for his release has been posted on social networks.
Censorship and obstruction of freedom of information are common in the Sultanate of Oman, which is ranked 125th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2016 World Press Freedom Index.
