Qatar News Agency (QNA) Director General Youssef Ibrahim Abdurahman al-Malki said that Al Arabiya news channel's surrendering of its licence with the UK broadcasting regulator Office of Communications (Ofcom), which was reviewing a complaint on the channel's involvement in covering the crime of hacking QNA, proves that it had committed a crime punishable by law.
Al Arabiya's broadcasting of fabricated and false statements attributed to His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani after the hacking of QNA website on May 24, 2017 despite official Qatari denial of the statements proves ill intention on the channel's side because such coverage contradicts with principles, basics and ethics of media practice, the QNA director general said in statements.
Al-Malki added that QNA's stance and its hiring of a British legal firm to file an official complaint at Ofcom reflects its belief in the fairness of its cause and endeavouring to claim its right after the harm inflicted on it due to Al Arabiya's lack of compliance with the principles and basics of media practice.
He noted that filing the complaint is the just and established civilised way to determine liabilities and claim rights.