Palestinian journalist appeals sentence over Gaza graft report

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GAZA CITY: A Palestinian journalist sentenced to prison over a report on alleged graft in blockaded Gaza’s health system defended her reporting as "professional" on Tuesday days before her appeal.In a 2016 report for Al-Araby TV, Hajar Harb alleged that doctors were writing false medical reports to let people leave Gaza for treatment, one of the few reasons Israel allows Palestinians out of the blockaded Strip.In October 2016, two doctors launched legal proceedings accusing her of defamation and "publishing false information", according to Amnesty International. A Gaza court sentenced the 34-year-old to six months in prison and fined her 1,000 shekels ($275, 245 euro) in June 2017, when she was in Jordan for cancer treatment."I did a journalistic enquiry, as a professional," she told AFP. She said medical permits to leave Gaza were "an important subject and among those where suspicions of corruption in Gaza are the strongest." She said journalists in the Palestinian enclave could not do "serious work without fear", and called for international support for press freedom in Gaza. She has launched a legal appeal against the ruling.

from The News International - World https://ift.tt/2ElbkRn

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