A Hamas court in Gaza has banned the printing and distribution of the Palestinian Authority daily Al-Ayyam, starting February 10.
The court also handed down prison sentences and fines for the paper's editor Ikram Haniya, who is also a PA presidential advisor, and for cartoonist Bahaa Al-Bokhari, for publishing cartoons it said humiliated the Legislative Council.
Al-Ayyam representatives said that the verdicts did not surprise them and were compatible with Hamas's policy of repression of freedom of expression.
Source: Al-Hayat Al-Jadida , Palestinian Authority, February 11, 2008
