Oman court jails journalists, closes down newspaper

A court in Oman on Monday ordered the permanent closure of a newspaper which had reported on alleged corruption within the judiciary, and jailed three of its journalists on charges that included undermining the prestige of the state.

Witnesses at the court said Ibrahim al-Mamari, editor-in-chief of the privately owned Azamn newspaper, and his deputy and managing editor Youssef al-Balushi, were jailed for three years and fined 3,000 rials ($7,800) each. A third journalist was jailed for a year.

Omani authorities suspended the newspaper in August for a month after detaining the three journalists. In a statement which did not mention Azamn by name, they said it had exceeded the limits of free speech and “drifted into ... harming one of the pillars of the state, the judiciary.”