Silencing Al Jazeera
Al-Jazeera reporter Taysir Alluni was convicted in 2005 on terrorism charges – a conviction which a European court later found to be not legal. Alluni has always maintained his innocence. This SBS report investigates the trial against Alluni just weeks before he was convicted.
Alluni was the first journalist to interview Osama bin Laden after 9/11. Two years later, he was accused of collusion with Al-Qaeda. Alluni’s lawyer claims “it amounts to persecution – an attack on freedom of the press.” Al-Jazeera’s Chief News Editor agrees: “this trial is a precedent that is really very negative for all of us in the media field.”
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