Committee to Protect Journalists - Libya

Three journalists briefly abducted in Libya

2013-05-03T15:09:47Z

Three television journalists were briefly abducted in Libya in April 2013, according to news reports.

Libya must let journalist travel for medical care

2013-04-26T19:48:46Z

New York, April 26, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the health of editor Amara al-Khatabi and calls on Libyan authorities to allow him to travel in order to receive urgent medical assistance abroad.

Gunmen attack Libyan TV station, abduct journalists

2013-03-08T21:49:36Z

New York, March 8, 2013--Gunmen stormed the offices of a television station in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Thursday amid a protest outside the station's studios, according to news reports. The gunmen abducted at least five journalists and media workers, the reports said, although all were released within 24 hours.

Attacks on the Press in 2012: Libya

2013-02-14T05:05:36Z

The press began to blossom amid the political transition that followed the 2011 uprising that ended Muammar Qaddafi's repressive rule. A burgeoning private media sector emerged with the launch of dozens of independent newspapers and other news outlets. Despite these notable improvements, journalists continued to face attacks, mostly from local militias and other armed groups that often detained people at whim. In February, a local militia in Tripoli seized two British journalists for almost a month. In July, two Libyan television journalists were kidnapped after covering the country's first elections in decades. In May, the then-ruling National Transitional Council passed a law criminalizing the glorification of Qaddafi, but the Supreme Court struck down the measure as unconstitutional the next month, a historic move that reflected an emerging commitment to free speech.

Libyan journalists released after nine days

2012-07-17T17:41:07Z

New York, July 17, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of two Libyan television journalists who were kidnapped on July 7 after covering the country's first elections in decades.

Abdelqadir Fassouk, a reporter and cameraman for the private Misurata-based Tobacts TV station, and Yusuf Badi, a cameraman for the same station, were released on Monday, according to news reports. The journalists were headed back to the station after covering the country's historic parliamentary elections from the city of Mizdah when they were kidnapped near the city of Bani Walid, news reports said.

Libyan journalists kidnapped after covering elections

2012-07-10T21:35:19Z

New York, July 10, 2012--Libyan authorities must establish the whereabouts of two journalists kidnapped on Saturday and do all in their power to secure their safe release, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The journalists were abducted on their way to the city of Misurata after covering the country's first elections in decades, according to news reports.

In Libya, two journalists detained without charge

2012-02-27T20:17:08Z

New York, February 27, 2012--Libyan authorities must seek the release of two British journalists who have been held in Tripoli by a local militia for the past six days, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Evolution in Journalist Security

2012-02-22T04:34:01Z

The danger of covering violent street protests has become a significant risk for journalists, alongside combat and targeted killings. Sexual assault, organized crime, and digital vulnerability are also hazards. The security industry is struggling to keep up. By Frank Smyth

Attacks on the Press: From Uprisings, Trends to Watch

2012-02-22T04:20:01Z

The Middle East's political shifts changed conditions for journalists dramatically. The emerging trends favor free expression, but are filled with ambiguity and depend on the political configurations to emerge after the revolutionary dust has settled. By Mohamed Abdel Dayem

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Journalists Killed

2012-02-21T21:37:14Z

Murders decline, but fatalities rise during coverage of protests. Photographers and freelancers pay an especially high price. Pakistan is the world's most dangerous nation.

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Libya

2012-02-21T05:06:00Z

Journalists worked in extraordinarily dangerous conditions during the eight-month uprising that ended 42 years of rule by Muammar Qaddafi and led to his death. Five journalists were killed amid fierce fighting between rebels and loyalists. Qaddafi's regime unleashed a widespread campaign to silence foreign and local journalists, detaining dozens in abusive conditions. In February, Qaddafi invited reporters to the capital, Tripoli, only to restrict them to the Rixos Hotel, monitor their every move, and prevent them from reporting on anything other than the government line. In their efforts to block news coverage, authorities also jammed satellite signals, severed Internet service, cut off mobile phone networks and landlines, and attacked news facilities. While the crumbling regime was able to orchestrate coverage for a time in Tripoli, it failed to prevent the press from disseminating information about rebel advances in the rest of the country. Press freedom violations persisted after the Libyan rebel government, known as the National Transitional Council, or NTC, took power in August. One journalist was brutally assaulted in Benghazi that month, and the NTC placed one pro-Qaddafi journalist under house arrest.

New Libyan rule halts delivery of journalist visas

2011-12-21T14:43:08Z

December 21, 2011

Abdurrahim al-Keib
Prime Minister of Libya
C/o Embassy of Libya
2600 Virginia Ave NW
Suite 705
Washington D.C. 20037

Via facsimile: +1 202-944-9606

Your Excellency,

The Committee to Protect Journalists has been monitoring with growing concern the difficulties that many foreign journalists have been experiencing in obtaining a visa to your country.

Six Libyan journalists still missing

2011-08-25T20:37:35Z

New York, August 25, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of four Italian journalists kidnapped Wednesday, but remains concerned about the safety of at least six Libyan journalists who have been missing since the start of the uprising in February.

Journalist escapes Libyan prison after months in captivity

2011-08-24T22:31:56Z

New York, August 24, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the news that U.S. journalist Matthew VanDyke escaped with several inmates from Abu Salim prison in Tripoli today. VanDyke's mother told CPJ that he called her with the news of his escape and that he is safe and in good spirits. He also told his mother that he had been kept in solitary confinement for much of his imprisonment. It was not clear whether the prison was now controlled by rebels.

Journalists kidnapped in Libya should be released

2011-08-24T19:31:39Z

New York, August 24, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the kidnappers of four Italian journalists seized in Tripoli today to release them immediately.