Egypt / Middle East & North Africa

  

CPJ cautiously welcomes Morsi’s step to drop complaints

New York, April 10, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s announcement that he will withdraw legal complaints against journalists who “spread wrong information.” The announcement was posted on the presidency’s Twitter account and confirmed by Presidential spokesman Ehab Fahmy.

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CPJ alarmed by investigation of its consultant in Egypt

New York, April 2, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by news reports that its Middle East consultant, Shaimaa Abulkhair, would be investigated by national security prosecutors in Egypt for comments she made about the widely criticized criminal case against satirist Bassem Youssef.

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Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah is surrounded by supporters as he leaves the prosecutor general's office in Cairo on Tuesday. (AP/Mostafa Darwish)

In Egypt, crackdown against media reaches new lows

The government of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi continues to escalate its offensive against journalists. Details of the most recent case, in which an arrest warrant was issued for blogger Alaa Abdelfattah for inciting “aggression” against members of the Muslim Brotherhood, show how low the government is willing to go in order to silence its critics.

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Protests outside the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters last week have led to escalating threats against the press and a siege on Sunday of Cairo's Media Production City. (AFP/Khaled Desouki)

CPJ condemns siege at Cairo’s Media Production City

New York, March 25, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the violent siege on Sunday of the Media Production City, a complex housing numerous private news outlets in Cairo, an episode that followed a series of inflammatory anti-press comments by President Mohamed Morsi and members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

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Journalists attacked in Egypt over the weekend

New York, March 19, 2013–At least 14 journalists were attacked by police and supporters of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood group outside the group’s headquarters in Cairo on Saturday and Sunday, according to news reports and local journalists.

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CPJ

Mission Journal: Who is a journalist in Egypt?

Egyptian journalists, besieged by punitive lawsuits and under threat, agree that under President Mohamed Morsi “there is no press freedom, only the courage of journalists,” as editor Ibrahim Eissa put it. What they can’t agree on is–in a climate of freewheeling, mutable media–who exactly is a journalist? 

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The Al-Watan offices were vandalized and set on fire on Saturday. (AFP/Al-Watan)

Amid protests, Egyptian journalists, newspaper attacked

New York, March 14, 2013–Journalists have come under attack in three separate episodes amid protests in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, in at least two of which police were said to be assailants. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the attacks and calls on authorities to hold all those responsible to account.

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Egypt should apprehend abductors of journalist

New York, February 26, 2013–Egyptian authorities must bring to justice the kidnappers of Mohamed el-Sawi, an online journalist who was found yesterday on a desert road outside the city of Alexandria, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. El-Sawi’s colleagues had reported him missing on February 21, two days after he was abducted.

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Online journalist reported missing in Egypt

New York, February 25, 2013–Egyptian authorities must do their utmost to determine the whereabouts and ensure the safety of Mohamed el-Sawi, an online journalist who was reported missing on February 21, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ also calls on Egypt to stop using the law to intimidate journalists and prevent them from…

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Attacks on the Press: Beyond Article 19

The right to news and opinion is enshrined in international law. It’s not enough. By Joel Simon

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