2022

New York, April 18, 2022 – Egyptian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Ahmed al-Bahy and drop any charges filed against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Saturday, April 16, state security forces arrested al-Bahy, a correspondent for local independent news website Masrawy in the Monufia Governorate in Egypt’s Nile Delta…

New York, April 7, 2022 – In response to a decision by Turkish authorities on Thursday, April 7, to transfer the trial of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “The Turkish government’s trial of Jamal Khashoggi’s suspected killers was politicized…

Beirut, April 6, 2022 – Iraqi authorities must drop their suspension of the “With Mulla Talal” talk show and allow the UTV network to air its programming freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. During a broadcast of “With Mulla Talal” on Monday, April 4, presenter Ahmad Mulla Talal and Iraqi actor Ayad al-Tayee,…

Beirut, April 6, 2022 – Jordanian authorities should conduct a swift and thorough investigation into allegations that two journalists were targeted with Pegasus spyware, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Throughout 2021, Suhair Jaradat, a freelance columnist for media outlets including the London-based Arabic news website Today’s Opinion, was repeatedly targeted by the spyware,…

As Israel grapples with the aftermath of explosive allegations that police illegally spied on dozens of Israelis, the country’s journalists are calling to be exempt from possible future legislation to oversee surveillance of citizens through spyware. Israel’s justice ministry last month denied a report by Israeli tech site Calcalist about the allegedly unlawful use of…

New York, March 21, 2022 – Tunisian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Khalifa Guesmi and stop intimidating journalists into revealing their sources, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On March 17, Guesmi, a correspondent at local independent radio station and news website Mosaique FM, published an article about the dismantling of a…

Washington, D.C., March 11, 2022 — Iranian authorities must release journalist Amir-Abbas Azarmvand from prison immediately and should cease jailing members of the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. In January, Judge Iman Afshari of Branch 26 of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Azarmvand, a financial reporter for the state-run Iranian…

Washington, D.C., February 24, 2022 — Iranian authorities should immediately release blogger Seyed Hossein Ronaghi Maleki and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Wednesday, February 23, the Tehran home of Ronaghi Maleki, a freelance blogger and freedom of expression activist who posts reporting critical of the government on…

Washington, D.C., February 22, 2022 – Authorities in northern Syria should immediately release Ahmed Sofi, Dara Abdo, and all other members of the press detained for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Saturday, February 19, forces affiliated with the Democratic Party Union, the political party in power in the Autonomous Administration…

New York, February 11, 2022 – Syrian government authorities should stop pursuing journalist Kenan Waqaf and cease harassing and detaining members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the early morning of February 6, Waqaf posted a video to his Facebook account saying that he had gone into hiding after heavily…