Al-Jazeera is made to pay for sacking
A PROMINENT NUJ member who tried to organise for the union at the al-Jazeera TV network headquarters in Qatar has won an amazing court case over her sacking.
In March the Qatar Supreme Court awarded Yvonne Ridley 100,000 Qatari Rials (about £13,800) after a marathon legal battle that began in November 2003. She was sacked without warning from her job as a senior editor in Doha, Qatar where she had helped launch al-Jazeera’s English language website.
A series of exclusive stories highlighting US military injustice in Iraq and Afghanistan led to a confrontation between her and her bosses after American officials complained and the stories were pulled.
“Perhaps I was overly combative in my style of management but I just felt this sort of editorial interference was unacceptable,” Yvonne Riley said. “No one was disputing the facts of the stories, but it was obvious the US military were uncomfortable, to say the least, when the stories were published.
“I was surprised that the English side of the station was capitulating when the Arabic broadcasting side of the station was ground-breaking and heroic in its coverage of both wars.”
Yvonne Ridley also upset senior al-Jazeera management when she launched an NUJ chapel after discovering a huge pay differential between Arab, Asian and Western journalists.
“I felt we should all be paid the same and wanted to try and raise the wages of my Arab colleagues,” she says. “I challenged the editor in chief and asked why someone should be paid lower because they came from the Arab world.
“When I was sacked I received a letter saying I was a threat to national security. It was a deeply worrying time especially when the administration department refused to hand over my passport for five weeks. But, thanks to the NUJ, it has ended on a positive note. My experience should highlight, once again, the importance of keeping up your NUJ membership. I would never have got justice without the union’s support.”
Her case was backed by the NUJ and she had the support of Qatar’s top employment lawyer Gebran Majdalany, who continued the case for free after NUJ funding ran out in the marathon process, which went to the Qatari Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
“Al-Jazeera’s legal strategy was to drag it out and we would eventually run out of funds. They hadn’t counted in the tenacity or dogged pursuit for justice from Gebran Majdalany’s firm.”
Yvonne Ridley added: “I hope what has happened in Qatar will help remove some of the stereotyping and myths about justice in Arab lands and their treatment of women. What happened to me was a result of a clash of management and editorial styles at al-Jazeera. I am still a great admirer of al-Jazeera and the journalists working there.”
Yvonne Ridley is a former Sunday Express roving reporter who hit the headlines herself when she was kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan while covering the US-led invasion of 2001.
She later converted to Islam and became a leading anti-war campaigner, standing as a candidate for the Respect party at the last UK general election.
She became a presenter for the London-based Islam TV satellite channel, where she was sacked last year. She is bringing a tribunal case for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination against the channel, again with NUJ backing.
She now works as a presenter and producer for Press-TV, an Iranian-owned English-language channel.