The punishment for the truth? Norwegian journalists who wrote about the insane conditions in Qatar were arrested before they left

The World Cup in Qatar is fast approaching and will start in November 2022. Several workers have already died in the construction of the super-modern stadiums and have been treated appallingly. Norwegian journalists tried to draw attention to this and were subsequently arrested by the authorities in Qatar.

The players themselves have also tried to point out that all is not quite right in Qatar. The national teams of Norway, Germany and the Netherlands wore T-shirts before the qualifying matches with the slogan: “Human Rights,” meaning human rights.

The media around the world are also trying to draw attention to this, as over 6 000 workers have already died in Qatar, having put their lives on the line to build modern stadiums. The workers, who come from poor countries, often work in stadiums in Qatar because they have nothing and it is their only way of earning a living.

However, they are treated appallingly, often working all day long in intolerable and unimaginable heat and receiving neither food nor drink. That is why the number of dead souls is so high, but in Qatar, absolutely no one is excited.

Norwegian journalists Halvor Ekeland and Lokman Ghorbani, working for The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, travelled to Qatar to see the local conditions for themselves and to find out exactly one year before the championship how workers in Qatar are faring.

On Sunday evening, they reported on the appalling working and living conditions of migrant workers during a live broadcast on the NRK news programme Sportsrevyen.

They were due to leave early on Monday morning, but they didn’t know what was in store for them. Late on Sunday evening, on their way to the airport, the two journalists were arrested. The reason for the arrest is unknown.

“We were arrested at the hotel on Sunday evening. We were taken to the police station and stayed there for several hours,” Ekeland told VG Ekeland.

The two journalists were finally released from custody on Tuesday morning and left Doha late Tuesday evening. On Wednesday morning they finally made it back to Oslo via Copenhagen.

“We were interrogated, but above all we are happy to be back in Europe. It was very difficult for us, we didn’t know what was going to happen. We will have several meetings with the NRC to find out what is really going on and we will come back with a statement soon,” Ekeland said.

“After all the circumstances, they are doing well. Right now we are happy and relieved that they are both doing well and on their way home,” NRK CEO Thor Gjermund Eriksen said in a statement to VG.

“It is unsustainable for the media to be prevented from practicing free and independent journalism at one of the world’s biggest sporting events. We will come back to address this with FIFA,” Eriksen said.

Source: VG