Release Paul Martin!

THE NUJ has joined the International Federation of Journalists in demanding the release of journalist Paul Martin, held by the Hamas authorities in Gaza on 16 February just as he was beginning to give evidence at a military tribunal. He was told he was suspected of security offences and would be held for 15 days.

The Freelance would add to this a call for:

• an inquiry into the current status of the five Palestinian journalists recorded in the 2009 Reporters Sans Frontières Press Freedom Index as having been arrested by Israeli forces and the three imprisoned;
• the release of Tareq Abu Zayd, the correspondent of Hamas-run TV station Al-Aqsa, sentenced to 18 months' jail in the West Bank city of Nablus on 22 February despite a 12 January ruling by the Supreme Court in Ramallah that he be released (RSF);
• the release of the "many" Palestinian journalists arrested in Gaza when Hamas took control; and
• safe passage to Bethlehem for US journalist Jared Malsin, expelled by Israel on 19 January after being detained on his way back from holiday to his job at the independent Ma'an News service.