–TM NOTE: Scherer has an update at the link below–
From Michael Scherer of Time:
The Saudi government is permitting journalists accompanying President Obama entry into the country without a visa or the usual customs procedures. While in Saudi Arabia, therefore, journalists are expressly prohibited from leaving the hotel or engaging in any journalistic activities outside of coverage of the POTUS visit. Those who do so risk arrest and detention by Saudi authorities.
This is not exactly helpful in pushing the case that the Saudis should be major partners in pushing Middle East equilibrium forward.
The section on “freedom of speech and press” from the State Department human rights report is a classic:
According to the Basic Law, the media’s role is to educate the masses and promote national unity. Media outlets can legally be banned or publication temporarily halted if they are deemed to promote “mischief and discord, compromise the security of the state and its public image,” or if it “offends a man’s dignity and rights.” The government continued to restrict freedom of speech and press by interrupting publication and dissemination of news sources critical of the royal family or of Islam. Authorities prevented or delayed distribution of foreign print media, effectively censoring these media and publications. …
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