Statements were made by various NGOs in the aftermath of the tragic accident giving a variety of accounts, including that Radhi was killed at a checkpoint in Duraz; that Radhi was run over by a police car; and alternatively that he was chased by police into the path of an oncoming car. However, the Ministry of Interior issued a statement that same day clarifying that Radhi was hit by a car driven by a 23 year old Bahraini woman who was taken into custody and had her car impounded, and that the accident happened more than 7 kilometers from where Duraz security checkpoints were set up.
“At the very least, media has a responsibility to contact the appropriate ministries to get an accurate and balanced view of the subject they are writing about,” the IAA spokesperson said.
“This is not the first time Bahrain has been maligned with incorrect information promoted by organizations like the unlicensed Bahrain Center of Human Rights (BCHR). They have operated on-going campaigns of misinformation through their statements on social media, as well as press releases and reports in the mainstream media.”
Some of the more notable examples of outrageous propaganda include the reports about Nabeel Rajab when he was arrested in early January (2012) that claimed he was seriously injured and mistreated by police officers. A subsequent thorough investigating with video evidence before, during and after the event in question, as well as a thorough examination, proved the accusations to be completely unfounded. A full report was made available to the public.
Similarly, a gross exaggeration and misrepresentation of the facts surrounded a proclaimed “Hunger Strike” of 110 days by Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja earlier this year. Reports by the BCHR, family members and even his legal counsel, stated that he was variously in a coma, experiencing organ failure or believed to be dead (all more than six weeks before he called his strike off). In the meantime, it came to light through the Danish Ambassador and a reporter who interviewed him that he had been taking water, glucose, protein supplements, juice, fruit and pudding; and the “Hunger Strike” was officially called off on May 28th (2012).
“It is most unfortunate that the worst examples of Opposition propaganda are related to exploiting someone’s personal tragedy when a family member is injured or dies. We have seen this with the case of a baby who was severely burned when a scalding tea kettle accidently spilled on her, and the frequent cases of ascribing deaths to tear gas exposure in the cases of elderly people who die from natural causes or people with pre-existing and on-going medical conditions unrelated to respiratory disease. And most recently, we had the case of the so-called ‘siege of Ekr’ that never happened.”
“All we ask is that the media contact us or the relevant authorities before they run with a one-sided inaccurate story. This is consistent with the professional ethics by which the media governs itself,” the IAA official said.