2022

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined human rights and press freedom organizations in separate actions in August urging the United States government to hold NSO Group accountable for providing Pegasus spyware to governments that have used the tool to secretly surveil journalists around the world. In a joint letter to Acting Solicitor General Brian Fletcher…

Beirut, August 24, 2022–Lebanese authorities should immediately investigate threatening messages received by journalist Mohamad Barakat and the Al-Akhbar newspaper, and ensure that members of the press can work without fear of harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Since August 13, Barakat, managing editor of the privately owned news website Asas Media, has received…

After novelist Salman Rushdie, the target of an Iranian fatwa, was stabbed in western New York last week, Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad said she saw messages on social media saying she should be punished next. Alinejad, who has extensively covered human rights in Iran and campaigns against the country’s compulsory hijab rule, is no…

Beirut, August 18, 2022 – Jordanian authorities should immediately release journalist Adnan Al-Rousan and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.  On Monday, August 15, seven unidentified men, including two in military uniform, arrested Al-Rousan, a prominent Jordanian columnist who writes critically about the government on Facebook, from his home in…

New York, August 17, 2022 – A Tunisian military court in the capital Tunis on Tuesday, August 16, sentenced journalist Salah Attia, founder and editor-in-chief of local independent news website Al-Ray al-Jadid, to three months in prison, according to news reports and Sondes Attia, the journalist’s daughter, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.  The…

Update: On May 28, 2024, the Aden-based Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced journalist Ahmad Maher to four years in prison on charges of spreading false information, misleading news, and forging identity documents. Maher spent almost two years in detention before his sentencing.  New York, August 16, 2022 – Yemeni forces affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council should immediately release freelance…

New York, August 12, 2022 – Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Salah Attia and ensure that journalists in the country can work without the threat of imprisonment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On June 11, plainclothes security officers arrested Attia, founder and editor-in-chief of local independent news website Al-Ray al-Jadid, from…

Beirut, August 9, 2022 – Iraqi Kurdistan authorities should immediately cease detaining and harassing journalists and media workers and allow them to report on political unrest freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On August 5 and August 6, Asayish security forces in several locations in Iraqi Kurdistan interfered with the work…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 19 other civil society organizations on Monday, August 8, in an open letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, urging the Biden administration not to provide its full proposed military aid to Egypt due to the country’s treatment of journalists and…

New York, August 5, 2022 – Israeli authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Amer Abu Arafa and allow reporters to travel freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On August 1, the Ofer Israeli Military Court ordered Abu Arafa, a correspondent for the London-based Quds Press News Agency, to be held in administrative…