Middle East & North Africa documents by Year:
More journalists killed on the job as reprisal murders nearly double
December 19, 2018 12:00 AM ET
Journalists from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan to the U.S. were targeted for murder in 2018 in reprisal for their work, bringing the total of journalists killed on duty to its highest in three years. The number of journalists killed in conflict fell to its lowest level since 2011. A...
Two Jordanian journalists jailed for 2 days for publication of photomontage
December 14, 2018 7:14 PM ET
An Amman prosecutor on December 10, 2018, ordered the arrest of Mohammad al-Wakeel, the publisher and editor-in-chief of the news website Al-Wakeel News, and intern editor Ghadir al-Rabihat on charges of inciting sectarian strife after a complaint was filed over an altered image of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper"...
Hundreds of journalists jailed globally becomes the new normal
December 13, 2018 12:00 AM ET
For the third year in a row, 251 or more journalists are jailed around the world, suggesting the authoritarian approach to critical news coverage is more than a temporary spike. China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia imprisoned more journalists than last year, and Turkey remained the world’s worst jailer. A...
Militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham threatens to execute Syrian journalist Amjed al-Maleh
December 11, 2018 4:32 PM ET
Beirut, December 11, 2018--The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed grave concern about the fate of Syrian journalist Amjed al-Maleh. According to news reports, Syrian militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham threatened to execute al-Maleh, a Syrian freelance journalist and media activist from the southwestern Syrian city of Madaya whom...
Israel raids Palestinian news agency, detains journalist in the West Bank
December 10, 2018 4:57 PM ET
Washington D.C., December 10, 2018--The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern at today's raid on the offices of the Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA) by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah and the detention of Al-Quds News Network writer and Quds Radio Tulkarm correspondent Sameh...
Lebanese authorities detain Syrian reporter who reports on refugees
November 26, 2018 3:57 PM ET
Beirut, November 26, 2018--The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the imprisonment without charge of Abdel Hafez al-Houlani, a correspondent for the Syrian pro-opposition news website Zaman al-Wasl in the northeastern Lebanese city of Arsal, and called on Lebanese authorities to immediately disclose charges against him or set him...
Unknown gunmen kill prominent Syrian radio host and a photographer in northwestern Syria
November 26, 2018 2:15 PM ET
Beirut, November 26, 2018--The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the assassination of prominent radio host Raed Fares and photographer Hamoud al-Jnaid and urged local authorities in the northwestern Syrian city of Kafranbel to investigate the murder and bring those responsible to justice....
Damascus journalist has a million stories but none she can safely report
November 12, 2018 4:08 PM ET
Joudy Boulos has a million stories she wants to write. But as a Syrian freelance journalist living in Damascus, her ability to report is severely limited by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It is so dangerous that "Joudy Boulos" is a pseudonym the journalist sometimes uses when...
Libyan authorities charge journalist with defamation, publishing state secrets
November 8, 2018 2:20 PM ET
New York, November 8, 2018--The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in the Libyan city of Ajilat to end their persecution of freelance journalist Mukhtar al-Halak, who is due in court on November 12 on charges of criminal defamation and publishing state security secrets....
Two journalists shot, injured covering effects of Turkish shelling in Syria
November 5, 2018 2:21 PM ET
Two reporters for the Hawar News Agency (ANHA), Gulistan Mohammad and Ibrahim al-Ahmed, were injured by Turkish gunfire while covering the effects of Turkey's shelling of the northern Syrian city of Tell Abbyad on the Turkey-Syria border on November 2, 2018, according to news reports, the journalists' employer, footage provided...