West Bank: Palestinian security forces continue to detain journalists "Wahaj Mufleh" and "Moath Rashid" for doing their job

Stockholm - Skyline International Foundation for Human Rights calls on the Palestinian government in the West Bank to release journalists detained in its prisons and to stop persecuting and arresting journalists for doing their job or thier right to express opinions, access information and publication.

In a statement released today, Wednesday, Skyline notes that Palestinian intelligence continues to detain freelance journalist "Wahaj Jamal Bani Mufleh"," 23.

It points out that the arrest of "Bani Mufleh" took place due to reporting on the attack by Palestinian security forces on the funeral of Palestinian "Abdel Fattah Khrusha" on March 8, a day after he was killed by Israeli forces.

"Skyline" reports that that "Mufleh" was attacked by Palestinian security forces when he tried to intervene to help a foreign journalist who was arrested and mistreated by those forces while reporting on the crackdown on funeral.

Skyline points out that instead of apologizing to the journalist "Muflih" and holding the security forces accountable for the attack on him and his fellow Greek journalist, and the participants in i the funeral, an arrest campaign was carried out that affected at least 20 participants, including the journalist Muflih, who covered the funeral.

According to Skyline, Mufleh is the second journalist arrested by Palestinian intelligence this month. Since March 1, the agency has detained photojournalist Moath Jamal Rashid Washha from Birzeit in Ramallah after summoning him for an interview.

Skyline states that the next day the journalist "Rasheed" was brought before the prosecutor's office and his detention was extended for 7 days. He was accused of several charges, including those related to posts on social media.

In this regard, Skyline stresses that the available data from the detained journalist's family showed that his detention was related to his job and social media posts.

Skyline emphasizes that the arrests it constantly monitors represent an expansion of the Palestinian security services' suppression and restriction of the freedom of journalistic work, in an unprecedented case of violation of freedoms in general.

Skyline calls on the Palestinian government to take decisions that oblige the security services to stop their violations, end the policy of arresting journalists for their work, and ensure their immediate release.

It also calls on NGOs and institutions involved in journalistic work to put pressure on the government to stop violations of journalistic freedom and freedoms in the West Bank in general.