Journalist Lina Diop revealed that she was subjected to an oral punishment by banning her weekly column in the government newspaper where she works. This comes as a result of her comment on Facebook.
Diop, in a Facebook post, said she did not know if the prohibition was by the editor-in-chief, who was a colleague in the press school. Or is it from the general manager “who came from outside the press institution and now manages the journalistic work more than the editors-in-chief?”
Hard punishments
She added: “I am reminded that the reason is a comment I wrote on a news item concerning the Minister of Supply.” She added a screenshot with the caption to one of the posts containing a photo of the Minister of Internal Trade, which read: “A heavy presence is equivalent to the confidence in the statements of His Excellency.”
The Syrian journalist reported that she recently learned that several colleagues had been subjected to harsh punishments, including the transfer of one of them to the archive department, due to the same reasons.
She concluded her post by saying: “I am neither sad nor angry. Everyone knows what the press has come to and what the conditions of the people are. I just feel nihilism, I didn’t complain against those who punished me because of this feeling.”
The Syrian environment is one of the most complex and difficult environments for journalists to work in. Journalists suffer from many problems similar to what happened with colleague Lina Diop.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
