Middle East & North Africa
2010
Jordan may extend repressive law to electronic media
Jordan’s Court of Cassation, the country’s highest judicial authority, issued an opinion last week stating that Web sites can be classified as “publications” and recommending that the Press and Publications Law be extended to online news sites and other electronic media. This decision, while not yet the law of the land, sets a legal precedent…
In Tunisia, critical journalist’s appeal rejected
New York, February 1, 2010—A Tunisian appeals court on Saturday upheld a six-month prison sentence against journalist Taoufik Ben Brik, one of President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali’s toughest critics, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists denounced the decision, the latest development in the politically motivated effort to silence Ben Brik.
Saleh uses security as cover to quash press freedom
Ministers and officials representing some 20 Western and Arab governments and international financial institutions declared themselves “friends of Yemen” during last week’s closed-door meeting in London to address threats posed by Al-Qaeda in Yemen, according to news reports. Participants, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, offered assurances that the international community, in addition…
Morocco’s most critical publication faces closure
New York, January 29, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the latest development in Moroccan authorities’ efforts to silence the independent newsmagazine Le Journal Hebdomadaire. Liquidators took control of the country’s most critical publication this week after a Casablanca commercial appeals court declared on Monday that Le Journal Hebdomadaire’s former publishing group, Media Trust, and…
An Iraqi in America: ‘Time is like a sword’ here
It has been almost nine months since I arrived in the United States. I can’t believe how fast life is moving and how different my family’s days are now are from the old days—that was a beautiful time. Everything is changing now. There’s no simplicity for us anymore.
Ben Brik, still jailed in Tunisia: ‘Chains will certainly break!’
“When people want to live, destiny must surely respond. Darknesss will disappear, chains will certainly break!”Journalist Taoufik Ben Brik, 49, spurred admiration among his relatives and lawyers at a Tunis appeals court on Saturday when he chanted these two verses by Abou El Kacem Chebbi, Tunisia’s most well-known poet. This unexpected recitation of Chebbi’s verses,…
Algerian newspaper covering corruption suspended
A court in central Algiers indefinitely banned the bimonthly newspaper Sirry Lelghaya (Highly Classified), a supplement of Al-Monaqasa newspaper, as of November 3, 2009. According to local news reports, the vague wording of the decision noted licensing irregularities without providing details. The court’s decision was issued in accordance with the Information Act of 4/4/1990 and the Penal Code. This legislation grants the judiciary…
Mauritanian journalist still being held after prison term ends
Dear Mr. President, The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to protest the continued detention and relentless campaign of persecution against Hanevy Ould Dehah, editor of the online news site Taqadoumy, who has been imprisoned since June.
Prison term completed, Tunisian still behind bars
New York, January 20, 2010—An appeals court in the city of Nabeul refused today to release Tunisian Zuhair Makhlouf despite his completion of a three-month prison term imposed in October. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the court’s decision and demands authorities release Makhlouf immediately.