Middle East & North Africa

Nazareth, Israel, July 9, 2025—Israel’s 12-day war with Iran provided Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government with an opportunity to step up its assault on the press — a trend that has since continued apace. “Media freedom is often a casualty of war, and Israel’s recent war with Iran is no exception. We have seen Israeli…

Paris, July 9, 2025—Hackers linked with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) infiltrated the Telegram accounts of current and former staff of the outlet Iran International in a targeted campaign to intimidate and silence journalists, the London-based broadcaster reported Tuesday. The breaches were linked to two coordinated attacks – one in the summer of 2024…

New York, July 9, 2025—CPJ urges Tunisian authorities to cease the prosecution of family members of journalists advocating for their release after a Tunis court on July 1 sentenced in absentia Ramla Dahmani, the sister of imprisoned lawyer and political commentator Sonia Dahmani, to two years in prison on false news charges.  “Tunisian authorities are…

New York, July 8, 2025—Members of the Sudan Liberation Movement–Transitional Council (SLM–TC), an armed group affiliated with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), arrested freelance journalists Nasr Yaqoub and Mohamed Ahmed Nazar on Monday, July 7, from a shop in Abu Shouk Camp market in El-Fasher, North Darfur.  The arrest followed an incident on July 5…

Washington, D.C., July 3, 2025— The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the June 18 arrest of journalist Muzahim Bajaber in central Yemen’s Hadramout Governorate on unspecified charges.  The warrant, reviewed by CPJ, was issued by a Specialized Criminal Court and violates Article 13 of Yemen’s Press and Publications Law, which protects journalists from punishment for publishing their opinions unless they…

Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, July 2, 2025—Iraqi authorities must immediately end their unexplained shutdown and suspension of the privately owned Iraq AlHadath news broadcaster in Baghdad and ensure that media outlets can operate freely and independently, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.  “The shutdown of Iraq AlHadath without transparent justification represents a troubling move against press freedom in…

New York, July 2, 2025—The dead have been buried and most journalists detained during Iran’s 12-day war with Israel have been freed, but the media are still reeling, as authorities crack down on critical voices and disrupt internet access. The state news agency has announced a “season of traitor-killing,” with hundreds of people arrested and…

New York, July 2, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the immediate release of Tunisian media commentator Sonia Dahmani, who was sentenced on June 30 to an additional two years in prison for condemning racism in the country, a crime for which she is already serving jail time. Dahmani’s lawyers withdrew from Monday’s trial…

New York, July 1, 2025—Algerian authorities must immediately release freelance French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. An Algiers court sentenced him on June 29 to seven years in prison on charges of “glorifying terrorism” and “possessing propaganda publications harmful to the national interest.” Gleizes was arrested on May 28, 2024, in the town of…

Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, July 1, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an Israeli airstrike on Al-Baqa Café, a beachfront venue in western Gaza City, which killed 34-year-old Palestinian filmmaker and photojournalist Ismail Abu Hatab and injured freelance journalist Bayan Abusultan on Monday, according to multiple news reports and an eyewitness photographer, who spoke with CPJ. “Palestinian filmmaker Ismail Abu Hatab’s death in an Israeli…