The Arab world continues to lag behind the rest of the globe in civil and political rights, including press freedom. Despotic regimes of varying political shades regularly limit news that they think will undermine their power. Hopes that a new generation of leaders would tolerate criticism in the press have proved illusory, with many reforms…
Egypt’s position as one of the most politically influential countries in the Arab world ensures its press a prominent regional standing. The country boasts some of the best-known writers and commentators in the Middle East, and newspaper columnists often pointedly criticize government officials and policies. Nonetheless, Egyptian journalists know that some topics remain sensitive–criticism of…
While the press is largely free within Israel proper, the country’s military assault on the Occupied Territories fueled a sharp deterioration in press freedom in the West Bank and Gaza during much of 2002. Despite vocal international protest, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) committed an assortment of press freedom abuses, ranging from banning press access…
New York, June 28, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) protests the harassment by Egyptian police of several reporters covering yesterday’s runoff parliamentary elections in the northern city of Alexandria. Egyptian police detained two journalists from U.A.E.based Abu Dhabi TV and two others from German television channel ZDF as they tried to film at polling…
New York, June 28, 2002–The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) protests the harassment by Egyptian police of several reporters covering yesterday’s runoff parliamentary elections in the northern city of Alexandria. Egyptian police detained two journalists from U.A.E.based Abu Dhabi TV and two others from German television channel ZDF as they tried to film at polling…
New York, May 3, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the prison sentence imposed last week on Egyptian journalist Ahmed Haridy, editor of the online daily newspaper Al Methaq Al Araby. On April 28, Haridy was sentenced to six months in prison after the Boulak Abu al-Aila Misdemeanor Court in the capital, Cairo, found him…
Bucking a worldwide trend toward democracy in the post-Cold War era, the political landscape of the Middle East and North Africa remained dominated by an assortment of military-backed regimes, police states, autocracies, and oligarchies. A new, younger generation of leaders has emerged in some countries in recent years, inheriting power and bringing hope for political…
Egypt’s press remains one of the most influential in the Arab world. The editorial and opinion pages of the leading daily papers are widely read in many Arab countries for their coverage of regional affairs. On a local level, newspapers deal with a wide range of issues. Opposition papers, in particular, often criticize government officials…
New York, March 26, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the prison sentences imposed last week on two journalists from the weekly independent newspaper Sawt Al-Umma. On March 21, the Abdeen Misdemeanor Court convicted Adel Hammouda, editor, and Essam Fahmy, head of the paper’s board of directors, of defaming prominent Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris…