Qatar accuses migrant activist of accepting payment to spread disinformation

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Migrant workers work at a construction site in the Aspire zone in Doha, Qatar, March 26, 2016. REUTERS / Naseem Zeitoon / File Photo

Qatar’s prosecution has indicted a Kenyan who wrote about the rights of migrants in the Arab Gulf state with receiving payment for spreading disinformation, the government’s communications office (GCO) said on Saturday.

Malcolm Bidali, who wrote under a pseudonym, was arrested on May 5 for breaking Qatari security laws, according to a Qatari official. Human rights groups have expressed concern that his detention may be in retaliation for human rights work. Read more

“Mr. Bidali has been formally charged with offenses relating to payments received by a foreign agent for the creation and dissemination of disinformation within the State of Qatar,” the GCO said in a statement, without further details. .

He said his case was transferred to the prosecution after a full investigation and that Bidali was “receiving legal advice and representation before the court date, which has yet to be set.”

Rights groups including Amnesty International said in a statement Friday that Bidali, a security guard and blogger, told his mother in a phone call on May 20 that he was being held in solitary confinement. and did not have access to a lawyer.

Qatar’s official National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) said authorities had granted unrestricted access to Bidali and “he was being treated properly.”

The NHRC added staff from the Kenyan Embassy visited him and he had contact with his family and the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Bidali had a week before his arrest made a presentation to a large group of civil society organizations and unions about his experience working in Qatar, according to an earlier statement by Amnesty, Migrant-Rights.org, Human Rights Watch , FairSquare and the Business. & Human Rights Resource Center.

Qatar’s human rights record has been in the spotlight as it prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, especially given the living and working conditions of migrants.

Doha has introduced labor reforms aimed at addressing some concerns.

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