2009

New York, March 18, 2009–The military junta in Mauritania must immediately halt its increasing persecution of critical journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

New York, March 16, 2009–The court of appeals in Iraqi Kurdistan should overturn yesterday’s decision to fine an independent newspaper and its former editor-in-chief for defaming Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today‎. The defamatory article was a translation of one written in 2008 by a U.S. scholar.

Dear Mr. President: CPJ is writing to protest the relentless campaign of persecution against Internet journalists and bloggers by Egypt’s various security services. Regrettably, the routine harassment and detention of bloggers, according to CPJ research, is only one element of an overall decline in press freedom in Egypt in recent years.

New York, March 10, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the deaths today of‎ Al-Baghdadia TV correspondent Haidar Hashim Suhail and the channel’s cameraman Suhaib Adnan, who were among more than 30 people who were killed when a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated himself in the town of Abu Ghraib, south of Baghdad. 

Seven major news organizations including NPR, ABC, and the BBC issued a joint statement on behalf of Roxana Saberi, a U.S.-Iranian freelance journalist who is currently being held in Tehran’s Evin prison. The outlets asked that “one or more international organizations that have responsibilities and rights under the Geneva Conventions be permitted access to Roxana…

New York, March 9, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the provisional release on medical grounds of an Algerian journalist known for his denunciation of corruption under President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, but is concerned that he will need to return to jail to serve a six-month sentence.

New York, March 9, 2009–With an American journalist now in an Iranian jail for more than five weeks, the Committee to Protect Journalists called for the charges against her to be made public and for the Iranian government to ensure that she will receive due process and be released as quickly as possible. 

Your Highness: We are writing to express our concern about a draft of the United Arab Emirates’ ‎media law, recently approved by the Federal National Council. We urge you to reject the law in its current form, which if passed would negatively impact the state of press freedom in the UAE.

New York, March 5, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the immediate release of a Moroccan blogger who is being held on charges of defaming a prosecutor in the northern part of the country.