Bahrain / Middle East & North Africa

  

Bahraini journalists harassed, banned from travel

New York, May 1, 2017–Bahraini prosecutors and security officials should cease harassing journalists and should lift travel bans imposed on two reporters in the past week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Prosecutors summoned three journalists for questioning in the week before the U.N. Human Rights Commission conducted its Universal Periodic Review of the…

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Mohammed al-Shaikh, a former AFP photographer pictured while covering protests in Manama in 2013, is detained in Bahrain. (AFP/STR)

Former AFP photographer arrested in Bahrain airport

New York, March 22, 2017–Bahraini authorities should immediately release Mohammed al-Shaikh, a photographer who worked for Agence France-Presse, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Al-Shaikh was arrested at Bahrain International Airport in the capital, Manama, yesterday and was transferred to the country’s Criminal Investigation Unit, according to Bahraini journalist Nazeeha Saeed and a statement…

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Protesters block a road in Bahrain on January 15 after authorities executed three men convicted of a deadly attack on police. (AP)

CPJ calls on Bahrain to allow Al-Wasat to publish freely

New York, January 17, 2017–The government of Bahrain should rescind an order suspending the online edition of Al-Wasat, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The Information Affairs Ministry ordered the independent outlet yesterday to suspend its online operation indefinitely for inciting division, jeopardizing national unity, and disrupting public peace, according to the official Bahrain…

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Turkey’s crackdown propels number of journalists in jail worldwide to record high

At least 81 journalists are imprisoned in Turkey, all of them facing anti-state charges, in the wake of an unprecedented crackdown that has included the shuttering of more than 100 news outlets. The 259 journalists in jail worldwide is the highest number recorded since 1990. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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CPJ concerned about legal harassment of Bahraini journalist

Today the Committee to Protect Journalists joined 42 other organizations in a joint statement expressing concern at the Bahraini Public Prosecutor’s decision to charge Nazeeha Saeed, an award-winning journalist with Radio Monte Carlo Douliya and France24, with unlawfully working for international media.

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CPJ highlights challenges to female journalists, reporter released from prison, CPJ hosts book talk

CPJ Newsletter: May edition CPJ publishes annual edition of Attacks on the Press On April 27, CPJ launched its annual publication of Attacks on the Press. This edition, which focuses on gender and media freedom worldwide, highlights the challenges faced by female journalists who fight to report the news against all odds. The book–and the…

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CPJ Newsletter: March edition

Landmark conviction in 2000 attack on Colombian journalist A Colombian court on February 26 convicted a former paramilitary fighter in the kidnapping and torture of Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya and sentenced him to 11 years in prison. The fighter, Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco, was also ordered to pay a fine of around US$17,500.

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Four American journalists arrested in Bahrain

New York, February 15, 2016 – The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the immediate release of four American journalists arrested in Bahrain yesterday while reporting on the anniversary of the launch of mass opposition protests on February 14, 2011.

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A photojournalist runs from tear gas at an anti-government protest in Bahrain, March 24, 2012. (Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah)

Bahrain upholds prison sentence against photographer

Washington, February 9, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned Bahrain’s imprisonment of photographer Ahmed al-Fardan. A Bahraini appeals court on February 3 upheld the photojournalist’s three-month prison sentence on charges of participating in an unlicensed protest, according to his lawyer and news reports.

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Bahrain accuses journalist of supporting terrorism

New York, January 6, 2016–Bahraini authorities should immediately release journalist Mahmoud al-Jaziri and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The terrorism charges were announced amid escalating sectarian tensions in Bahrain and other Gulf countries.

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