Middle East & North Africa
2024
CPJ calls for release of all jailed Iranian journalists after bail granted to Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi
Washington, D.C., January 17, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Iran’s decision to grant bail to journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi while they await the outcome of appeals against their lengthy jail sentences, but calls on Iranian authorities to drop all charges and release all journalists still being held in connection with their work….
CPJ and partners call on President Biden to protect journalists in the Israel-Gaza war
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) joined five other press freedom and human rights organizations on Wednesday in calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to act immediately and decisively to promote the conditions for safe and unrestricted reporting amid hostilities between Israeli forces and Palestinian and Lebanese armed groups. The Israel-Gaza war has taken a severe toll on journalists…
CPJ calls for probe into whether Hamza Al Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya were targeted in strike
New York, January 7, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists has called for an independent investigation into an Israeli drone strike that killed Al-Jazeera journalist Hamza Al Dahdouh, who is the son of Al-Jazeera Gaza bureau chief Wael Al Dahdouh, and freelance journalist Mustafa Thuraya on Sunday as they drove their car to an assignment in…
Iranian journalist Hasan Abbasi rearrested and held incommunicado
Washington, D.C., January 4, 2024—Iranian authorities should immediately release journalist Hasan Abbasi, whose whereabouts are unknown since his arrest, and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Tuesday, security forces arrested Abbasi, a freelance investigative reporter, in a public location in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas in…
Al-Jazeera journalist Samir Sassi arrested on undisclosed charges in Tunisia
New York, January 4, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that Tunisian authorities arrested journalist Samir Sassi and calls for his immediate and unconditional release. On Wednesday, January 3, police raided and searched the home of Sassi, a reporter at Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera, in the capital Tunis and arrested him, according to…
Tunisian journalist Zied el-Heni arrested after criticizing commerce minister
New York, January 2, 2024—Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Zied el-Heni and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On December 28, police arrested el-Heni, a prominent columnist and political commentator for the daily “Émission Impossible” show on the independent radio station IFM, after he responded to…