Bahrain denies accreditation to journalists
Bahrain has over the past year refused to grant accreditation to several of its own citizens who report for foreign and independent media, including those working for The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, France 24, and Monte Carlo Doualiya. It has on multiple occasions not granted media visas to foreign journalists seeking entry. One of the…
Families of jailed journalists in Egypt await outcome of latest trials
Every two weeks Mohamed al-Fakharany prepares to visit his brother, Abdullah al-Fakharany, in prison. He packs food, clothes, books, and, most importantly, written responses to his older brother’s letters. Mohamed al-Fakharany, who told CPJ that he has never missed a visit, was only 11 when his brother– the executive director of opposition news outlet Rassd–was…
Collapse of state institutions leaves Yemeni journalists vulnerable
A journalist dies mysteriously in Yemen after receiving threats because of his work, and the resulting autopsy raises more questions than answers. A columnist in the same country is sentenced to death on espionage charges in an opaque trial.
Egypt’s state of emergency may act to further silence press
Hours after two bombs ripped through packed Palm Sunday services in Coptic Churches in Alexandria and Tanta on April 9, killing nearly 50 people, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi announced a three-month state of emergency. The measure is in many ways an extension of what has already been in place in parts of the Sinai…
As Egypt-U.S. relationship moves forward, jailed Egyptian journalists left behind
Among the things Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and U.S. President Donald Trump are scheduled to discuss during their April 3 meeting in Washington is Egypt’s fight against terrorism. Egypt’s government has broadly interpreted this fight to include jailing dozens of journalists, including photographer Abdelrahman Yaqot, who a few days before el-Sisi arrives in Washington…
CPJ joins call to renew mandate of Iran human rights rapporteur
The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined 40 human rights groups calling on the U.N. Human Rights Council to support the resolution to renew the mandate of the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. A vote on the resolution is scheduled to take place during the…
How CPJ researches the killing and jailing of journalists
Who is a journalist? In the era of citizen journalism, activist journalism and now “fake” journalism, the question is not academic. The Committee to Protect Journalists has just published its annual census of journalists in prison and next week it will release its survey of killed journalists.
Press freedom on OGP agenda as authoritarianism rises
There was poignancy to the Paris summit of the Open Government Partnership, as leaders from government and civil society took the stage to defend a political ideology under siege: liberal democracy. French President François Hollande, who amid weak public support announced he will not seek re-election in 2017, called democracy “so fragile and so precious.”…
‘People talk as they please’ Sisi says in comments on Egypt’s press freedom record
In Egypt last week a journalist was barred from travel without official explanation, a reporter was accused of criminal defamation over a 2015 investigation on child prostitution, and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi defended Egypt’s freedom of expression record. An appeal date was also set for the Journalists’ Syndicate leaders who were sentenced this month to…
Hunger-striking journalist injured in prison uprising
News of the hospitalization of an imprisoned photojournalist after security forces cracked down on an uprising in Borg al-Arab prison tops the list of attacks on the press last week in Egypt. Also last week: Two leaders of the Journalists’ Syndicate were sentenced to two years in prison each but remain free on bail; a…