AKEED – Amman

Some local media outlets reported that media representatives, including journalists and photographers, had left Parliament after imposing strict security measures that prevented them from taking pictures near the area designated for the media in the balconies under the dome. This took place on Monday, 21 November, the second day of sessions deliberating confidence in Hani Al Mulki"s government.

According to published stories, reporters and photographers left the premises because the latter were banned from taking pictures from specific locations in the area behind government and ministers" seats after being accused of violating the Parliament"s privacy by publishing correspondence exchanged between MPs and ministers under the dome.

Atef Al Tarawneh, speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, objected to the photographers" presence after they took photos of letters exchanged between MPs and ministers, including a piece of paper sent by one of the MPs (as was published) to Minister of Interior Salameh Hammad, in which, according to the story, he asked Hammad to smile to win the vote of confidence of the MPs. The letter read: "Your frown could deprive a person of his livelihood. Smile so that you would not be a reason for withholding confidence." The photo was widely circulated by activists on social media sites.

On the same day, the sites also posted a picture of a letter Engineer Walid Al Masri, minister of municipalities, sent to Prime Minister Hani  Al Mulki while the Parliament was discussing the cabinet"s policy statement, in which he wrote: "Mr. Prime Minister: Greetings, MP Dr. Nidal Al Taani told me that he was on your side and that his speech would be political and positive and it would discuss the statement, given its importance."

Attempt To Calm Things Down

While following events in real time, AKEED noticed that all the newspaper reporters it contacted were leaning towards simplifying matters, and denied any disagreement or crisis worth mentioning. They said that these measures were taken against freelance photographers, and denied what the websites had posted about reporters leaving Parliament.

A photographer working for one of the daily newspapers went further by blaming freelance photographers and wondered: "Is Parliament incapable of preventing this photographer and others from entering its premises?" He was referring to the first photo, which showed the letter sent to the minister of interior. He added on his Facebook page: "We as photographers and reporters reject all forms of blackmail, fishing for mistakes, and harassing others. At the same time, we reject any harassment attempted by the General Secretariat of Parliament, Press Office, or the secretary general."

However, the issue assumed larger dimensions in the next few hours, especially after the statements made by Atef Al Tarawneh, speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, in which he responded to MP Kais Zayadin, who underlined in his speech "the right of reporters and media persons to carry out their duty and cover Parliament"s activities, and that they should not be restricted from doing so in any way, as happened in the morning session."

In his response, Tarawneh said: "I addressed photographers, and not journalists or media persons, and asked them to respect the MPs" privacy and refrain from taking photos of what the MPs write or the letters they exchange." He said that he had called on photographers in the morning session to refrain from using their cameras to stealthily take photos of the letters passed between MPs and ministers, and abide by what he called the code of honor and respect for privacy in Parliament.

On the next day, Tuesday, and on its first page, Al Ghad newspaper announced that it would refrain from publishing any pictures of MPs in protest against the restrictions imposed on photographers. Indeed, it published coverage of the deliberations of the parliamentary session without any photos. The newspaper said that it would continue to do so in its coverage of all sessions deliberating the vote of confidence until the Parliament retracts the strict measures it took against photojournalists. 

For its part, the Council of the Jordan Press Association (JPA) released a statement, in which it stressed its categorical rejection of "all types of restrictions on reporters while performing their professional duty and noble mission, or measures that compromise the freedom granted to them by the Constitution and law." The JPA statement also rejected the statements of the speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, in which he differentiated between journalists and photojournalists. However, the statement referred to the Parliament"s responsibility for granting media permits to non-reporters, and stressed the absolute rejection of the JPA Council of any offence to photojournalists, who are "an integral part of the journalistic body and JPA. It noted that they are also performing a noble mission, which deserves respect and appreciation from all."

Taking Photos Inside Parliament

The disputed point is as follows: The speaker of the Lower House of Parliament thinks that the photos taken and published of messages exchanged between MPs and ministers are considered a violation of privacy. The other viewpoint is that the proceedings of the session, including these messages, are part of issues that are to be covered. This is in addition to the distinction made by the speaker between journalists and photographers.

Mahmoud Qtaishat, legal adviser of the JPA, told AKEED: "The press, known as the fourth estate, has the right to have oversight of the performance of the three branches of government. Journalists perform legal work and oversight; taking photos is at the core of this work. MPs and ministers may not prevent journalists from reporting everything that is happening in Parliament." 

Qtaishat explained that "the photos, which provided a close-up shot of the correspondence between MPs and ministers, are 100% legal."

Journalist Fahd al-Khitan, adviser to Al Ghad newspaper, said in a telephone call with AKEED: "Taking such photos is legitimate for reporters, and it is a major part of their work. The letters between MPs and the government are being exchanged under the dome in public, and not secret, sessions. The reporters are not taking these pictures in the homes of the people being photographed or "stealing" them from their briefcases. It is the reporters" duty to report everything that happens under the dome of Parliament, including news, photos, and other things."

Major Past Story

In this context, followers of this incident recall a major story about a famous photo taken by Al Arab Yawm"s photographer, Mohammad Al Rafay"a, in 2012 of a letter sent by the speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, Abdul Kareem Al Dughmi, under the dome to then-Prime Minister Fayez Al Tarawneh, during the speech of Jamil Al Nimri, representative of the Democratic Bloc, in which Al Dughmi said: "Your Excellency … How about (as Jamil Effendi says) we appoint Khaled Al Kalaldeh, for example, as head of the elected government? Or maybe Mousa Ma"aytah, and in that case the cabinet will be "fantastic" and Jamil will be deputy prime minister."

The picture showed the response of Prime Minister Fayez Al Tarawneh to MP Al Dughmi as follows: "Indeed, he is an Effendi. God created them, and then stopped creating people like them. We are all old guard and we are obsolete. Encroachment has not spared the top echelon. They will know what vicissitudes their affairs will take.  Great Abu Faisal: Don"t worry; the march is continuing."  

That incident was perceived as an achievement for the newspaper, and the photographer continued to cover Parliament"s sessions. According to the newspaper"s editor-in-chief then, Nabil Ghishan (currently an MP), the newspaper stood by its representative (Al Rafay"a) and hailed the fact that he took the photo. In another incident, when MP Mifleh Al Ruhaimi assaulted the same photographer, Mohammad Al Rafay"a, and broke his camera while taking photos of a "fight inside Parliament," the newspaper released a photo of the assault and condemned it. Consequently, the Parliament pledged to fix the camera or replace it.

International Practice

Yasar Al Durra, adviser at the Jordan Media Institute, told AKEED that there are no unified standards at world parliaments. In Britain, for example, one of the world"s oldest parliaments observes very strict standards. All photos broadcast from the hall are checked, and a vote is taken on what is broadcast and what is not. Furthermore, BBC Parliament, a channel concerned with parliament, is the only station that is allowed to broadcast, according to what the Parliament decides. The broadcasting standards, for example, do not allow for broadcasting any disorder inside Parliament. Reporters can only attend sessions with a special permit from the speaker of the House, but they cannot take photos and they have to sit in a special area.

Asked about his assessment of what happened in the Jordanian Lower House of Parliament, Adviser Al Durra said: "The speaker of the House does not have the right to object to an individual case. The Parliament has to set specific standards that apply to all cases. Only then can we discuss if this is a violation or not."

It seems that the British Parliament is the strictest in applying specific instructions in this domain. When AKEED contacted Mr. (Schreiz), communications director in the German news channel, Deutsche Welle, he confirmed that reporters and photographers are allowed to cover what they want in the Parliament"s hall provided that they stay in the area designated for them. AKEED also contacted the Information Department in the Norwegian Parliament, which also confirmed that there are no restrictions on journalists and photographers and that they can take photos from areas designated for them. Photographers even have greater freedom in the Italian Parliament, which prompts the speaker to remind the MPs repeatedly of the photographers" ability to take pictures of what they write on their papers, using high-tech cameras. Hence, the British Parliament is the exception here.