Middle East & North Africa

2020

  
Protesters and police officers are seen in Beirut, Lebanon, on January 15, 2020. Police attacked and detained journalists covering the recent protests in Beirut. (AP/Hussein Malla)

Journalists assaulted, detained while covering protests in Beirut

Beirut, January 16, 2020 — Lebanese authorities should investigate recent attacks against journalists covering protests in Beirut by both police and demonstrators, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A police vehicle is seen in Cairo, Egypt, on September 21, 2019. Police recently raided the Cairo offices of the Turkish Anadolu News Agency and arrested four people. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

Police raid Cairo offices of Turkish Anadolu News Agency, arrest at least 4

Washington, D.C., January 15, 2020 — Egyptian authorities yesterday arrested at least four people at the Anadolu News Agency office in Cairo on allegations of spreading false news and operating without a license, according to a report by the agency and other news reports.

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Sudanese protesters wait at a railway station in Khartoum on December 19, 2019 ahead of celebrations of the one-year anniversary of a protest movement that ousted the president. The transitional government in January suspended four news outlets over alleged links to the previous regime. (AFP/Ashraf Shazly)

Sudan suspends four news outlets over alleged financial link to Bashir regime

New York, January 13, 2020—Sudanese authorities should end their suspension of the newspapers El Ray El Aam and El Sudani and the TV channels Ashorooq and Teiba, and work toward institutionalizing press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Sudanese authorities suspended the four news outlets as part of a wider effort to seize…

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Iraqi demonstrators gather in Basra on January 10. Gunmen killed two journalists from the Iraqi broadcaster Dijlah TV, who were covering the protests. (Reuters/Essam al-Sudani)

Gunmen open fire on car, kill 2 Dijlah TV journalists at Iraq protest

Beirut, January 10, 2020—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the killing of two journalists working for the Iraqi broadcaster Dijlah TV, and urged Iraqi authorities to immediately open an investigation and hold those responsible to account.

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Abu Dhabi International Airport is seen on July 4, 2017. Serbian journalist Stevan Dojčinović was recently denied entry to the United Arab Emirates. (AP/Jon Gambrell)

Serbian journalist denied entry to United Arab Emirates

On December 17, 2019, authorities at Abu Dhabi International Airport denied entry to Stevan Dojčinović, a Serbian national and editor of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an investigative news outlet, according to Dojčinović, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, and news reports.

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Iraqis gather in Basra, Iraq, during a funeral procession on January 7, 2020, for militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike at Baghdad airport. (Reuters/Essam al-Sudani)

CPJ Safety Advisory: Iraq Safety Advisory

In wake of the January 3, 2020, U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, pro-Iranian militias have warned that “all retaliation options are on the table,” as reported by The Independent. According to CPJ research, pro-Iran militias, including those known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), have…

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2020