Middle East & North Africa

New York, December 29, 2009—The Iranian government, struggling to silence the many critical voices in the country, has arrested at least 11 journalists since Sunday, including former International Press Freedom Award recipient Mashallah Shamsolvaezin and the prominent writer Emadeddin Baghi. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the arrests and called for the release of all detained journalists, who now number more than 30.

New York, December 28, 2009—A Yemeni reporter is being held without charge after being arrested on Sunday while covering clashes between security forces and separatists in Yemen’s southern province of Dhala, according to local news reports. The arrest is the latest attempt by the government to silence media outlets and journalists covering civil unrest in the southern part of the country.

New York, December 23, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that Iranian authorities censored coverage of the death of a leading reformist cleric, shut down yet another reformist newspaper this week, and continue to arrest journalists.

New York, December 21, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Turkish authorities today to locate the killers of journalist Cihan Hayırsevener and bring them to justice. Hayırsevener, at left, editor of the local daily newspaper Güney Marmara’da Yaşam, was shot three times in the leg on December 19 while walking to his office in Bandirma, a town 60 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of Istanbul, according to local news reports.

New York, December 21, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists announced the addition of three leading journalists to its board of directors today: Rebecca MacKinnon of Global Voices, Ahmed Rashid, journalist and scholar, and María Teresa Ronderos of Semana.com.

New York, December 18, 2009—The decision to jail a blogger and an Internet café owner is an escalation in Morocco’s already intense campaign against journalists and bloggers, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ called on Moroccan authorities to overturn both prison sentences on appeal.

CPJ survey finds at least 68 journalists killed in 2009

New York, December 17, 2009—At least 68 journalists worldwide were killed for their work in 2009, the highest yearly tally ever documented by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the organization said in its year-end analysis. The record toll was driven in large part by the election-related slaughter of more than 30 media workers in the Philippine province of Maguindanao, the deadliest event for the press in CPJ history.

Three journalists, all on assignment for The Guardian, were kidnapped in December 2009 and released after six days, according to the paper. Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, an Iraqi, ad two unnamed Afghan journalists had been planning to interview militants in Afghanistan’s mountainous Kunar province near the border with Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province when they were abducted. The Guardian said it did not know if the kidnappers were attached to any specific group.

New York, December 16, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the West Bank-based Palestinian Authorities to release a journalist detained since Monday and the Hamas-led government in Gaza to end harassment of journalists.