NRK journalists arrested in Qatar:

Just updated

–

Ekeland and Ghorbani were on a reportage trip in Qatar one year before the World Cup. They were arrested at the hotel late Sunday night, before leaving the country. They were not released until Tuesday morning, after extensive police questioning.

– They are doing well according to the conditions and we will make sure that they get the follow-up they need, says broadcasting manager at NRK, Thor Gjermund Eriksen, to VG.

The journalists return home without mobile phones, PCs and camera equipment, after almost 30 hours in solitary confinement.

– Now we are first and foremost very happy and relieved that both are safe and on their way home, says Eriksen.

Read english version here: Norwegian TV journalists arrested in Qatar

The Boeing 787 aircraft from Qatar Airways took off, according to online services that monitor international flights from the capital Doha at 23.47 Norwegian time on Tuesday. According to NRK, Ekeland and Ghorbani are on board.

– This is an experience I do not indulge anyone. It is quite obvious that they have been through some days that have been very difficult and rough, says the head of broadcasting.

Ekeland is a journalist at NRK Sporten and works, among other things, with sports policy. He has delivered several critical cases on the Qatar regime’s treatment of guest workers. Ghorbani is an experienced foreign photographer at NRK.

During the trip, they have been to official markings, talked to public representatives and in addition a number of workers about their conditions and situation, the broadcaster says.

He says they have followed a thoroughly planned plan.

– The purpose of this reportage trip was to show a broad picture of what is happening in the country. We have been open to this to the authorities in Qatar. NRK has not received an explanation as to why they were arrested.

Should meet regime critic

Ekeland and Ghorbani arrived in Qatar on Sunday 14 November and the day after had an agreement with regime critic Abdullah Ibhais.

Ibhais was previously the media and communications director of Qatar’s World Cup organization. He was sentenced in April to five years in prison for misuse of public funds and corruption, but has appealed the sentence.

Just hours before the interview with NRK was to take place, Ibhais was arrested by the police. Football magazine Josimar writes that a hearing was held on Tuesday 23 November, with a new one scheduled for 15 December. According to the magazine, he is still in prison, where he is on hunger strike.

Josimar published a longer article earlier this year about the trial against Ibhais, and claimed that he was convicted of defending the rights of migrant workers in the country.

It denied the World Cup committee, which according to Josimar also sent a lengthy email with claims that “incorrect and insulting information” should be removed from the article.

– The fear in the eyes

In Sportsrevyen on Sunday, Halvor Ekeland was asked live about the conditions for guest workers in Qatar:

– There are great contrasts in this country. There are some workers who feel bad. You see in their eyes that they are not well. They work long days and they work hard. And then of course there are some workers who are fine.

The sports review reproduced reports from the international labor organization ILO, which are critical of the working conditions for those who build the World Cup facilities.

Asked what made the strongest impression on him, Ekeland replied:

– I think the meetings with workers, those who do not want to talk to journalists on camera. When I ask for an interview, you see the fear in their eyes.

Ekeland and Ghorbani were scheduled to leave Hamad International Airport in Doha at 6 a.m. Monday morning, but were arrested in front of the hotel late Sunday night, around midnight.

– The arrest took place right after Sportsrevyen, where in my opinion they had delivered a very nuanced report, says broadcasting director Thor Gjermund Eriksen.

VG experiences that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has provided consular assistance and been in close contact with NRK along the way.

Broadcasting manager Thor Gjermund Eriksen is critical of the arrest:

– We believe it is unsustainable that the media is prevented from practicing free and independent journalism at one of the world’s largest sporting events.

Eriksen says that NRK has so far handled the incident as the journalists’ employer.

– How we as a media house should take this further with FIFA, we must come back to. This is a question that must be addressed in the editorial lines of NRK.

He says that the case has had the highest priority in NRK.

– All NRK’s ​​trips abroad, especially outside Europe, are well planned. Thorough and ongoing risk assessments are made, including via external suppliers who have security and risk assessments as their special area.

Ekeland worked for Aftenposten in 2016–2018 before joining NRK. He has also worked in VGTV. Ghorbani came from Iran to Norway in 2002, after being imprisoned for running a student newspaper that violated the country’s media laws.

The NRK management will receive their employees when they return home on Wednesday morning.

– We want to talk well with them and find out what they need. And then they will probably meet their family, says Eriksen.

World Cup award criticized

That Qatar was awarded the World Cup is hotly debated. Amnesty lead that the country’s guest workers who build World Cup facilities and infrastructure are grossly exploited and exposed to systematic violations of human rights.

Qatari authorities have promised to implement reforms for foreign workers. But one the Amnesty report November 16 claims that the effect is absent and that working and living conditions in some cases have even worsened.

The British newspaper The Guardian has registered more than six thousand deaths among guest workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka after Qatar won the World Cup in 2010.

In these ten years, there has been enormous construction activity in Qatar, much due to the World Cup, such as a new airport, new roads, public transport, hotels and a brand new city, where the World Cup final will be held.

The Guardian directly links 37 of the deaths to the construction of World Cup stadiums.

The revelations led to a long-running debate in Norwegian football about whether the championship should be boycotted. In the end, the Football Parliament voted against a boycott in June. Norway is not qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The Ministry of Labor in Qatar has stated that “figures that the media have reported on deaths among migrant workers are strongly misleading”, reports CNN.

See VG’s report from March this year about the World Cup and the guest workers:

–