Following the detention of Jared Malsin, Ma’an News Agency’s chief editor at Ben Gurion yesterday, IMEMC spoke with George Hale, an editor at Ma’an.Mr. Hale told IMEMC that in addition to the lawyer that Ma’an has hired on Mr. Malsin’s behalf, the United States embassy, specifically the embassy’s press officer, is also working on the case.
Ma’ans lawyer has met with Mr. Malsin and is attempting to secure an injunction against the deportation order that will see Mr Malsin depart on a flight back to the Czech Republic at 6:05am tomorrow morning, appealing to the Israeli Supreme Court to overrule the Ministry of Interior’s decision.
The Ministry has not commented officially on the situation, but Ma’an has been told that Mr. Maslin’s detention and deportation are based upon security issues.
Mr. Hale stated that he had spoken to Mr. Maslin late last night, although briefly, and Mr. Maslin reported that he had been subjected to “8 hours of grueling interrogation.”
Mr. Hale continued, “Even if the chances are slim, Ma’an will still protest, as Jared has done nothing illegal. He’s a journalist; he’s not a security threat to the State of Israel… Jared speaks to the Israeli military probably 20 times a day. Ma’an staff has been invited to tour Israeli military bases and have done so without issue.”
With regards to the other members of Ma’an’s staff, Mr. Hale stated that, “no threats have been made against other members of staff, but our position is that we support Jared publicly and should the Israeli government decide that we don’t have the same rights afforded to the journalists on the other side of the wall… it doesn’t concern our day to day lives until they tell us to stop.”
