Iran / Middle East & North Africa

  

Iran arrests two more critical journalists

New York, July 22, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists has learned that Iran is continuing to arrest journalists, with two more detained in June. CPJ calls on the authorities to release all imprisoned journalists, and to allow reporters to conduct their work unimpeded.

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A new show on PBS says the problem with the rise in cyber dissent is that governments like Iran are "pretty good at social media too."

As dissidents move online, governments fight back

Social media and cyber dissidents have exerted a increasing influence on global politics over the last few years—Twitter, for instance, was widely utilized by protesters and journalists during Iran’s 2009 post-election Green Movement, and China has been locked in conflict with Google over allegations of censorship and hacking. “Ideas in Action” with Jim Glassman, a half-hour weekly show on…

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A supporter of former presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi holds an anti-Ahmadinejad newspaper during a Tehran rally in June 2009. (Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters)

Living in limbo: The ongoing wait of journalists in exile

The e-mails started on July 15, 2009, and have continued ever since—pleas for help from Iranian journalists who fled their country often with little money and scarce provisions to northern Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, India, and a host of other locales around the world. Many lived in hiding throughout Iran for weeks or months before crossing perilous borders…

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Sandhya Eknelygoda and her two sons. (CPJ/Bob Dietz)

Journalists in Exile 2010

An exodus from Iran, East Africa At least 85 journalists fled their home countries in the past year in the face of attacks, threats, and possible imprisonment. High exile rates are seen in Iran and in the East African nations of Somalia and Ethiopia. A CPJ Special Report by María Salazar-Ferro

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CPJ concerned about treatment of Iranian prisoners

Dear Mr. Larijani: The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the Iranian authorities’ cruel treatment of imprisoned journalists and numerous punitive actions taken against them. At least 37 journalists were behind bars in Iran as of June 1, with an additional 19 free on short-term furloughs, according to CPJ’s monthly census of imprisoned journalists.

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President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (Reuters/Sajjad Safari)

Iran press crackdown continues a year after disputed vote

New York, June 9, 2010—At least 37 journalists were behind bars in Iran as of June 1, with an additional 19 detainees free on short-term furloughs, according to CPJ’s monthly census of journalists jailed in Iran. Imprisonment figures have remained high in Iran since the government began its crackdown on critical journalism and dissent in…

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Saberi (Reuters)

We must speak out for the imprisoned in Iran

On the one-year anniversary of Iran’s disputed June 12 presidential election, it is a good opportunity for those of us who enjoy certain freedoms to speak out for journalists in Iran who are struggling to make their own voices heard.

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Iran isn’t laughing at The Daily Show

The Daily Show’s Jason Jones mocks journalistic conventions to hilarious effect. But Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are not known for their sense of humor, and let’s just say they didn’t get the joke.

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Newsweek

Iran sentences Bahari to 13 years in prison, 74 lashes

New York, May 10, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a 13-year prison sentence handed down to Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari in absentia on Sunday.Newsweek correspondent Bahari, who was held in detention for four months on manufactured anti-state charges in 2009, was sentenced by a Tehran Revolutionary Court on Sunday to 13 years in prison, in addition to 74 lashes.

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Letter from CPJ, OPC to Iran

Your Excellency: The Overseas Press Club of America, an international association of journalists working in the United States and abroad, and the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, want to express our deep concerns about your government’s treatment of journalists and its unabated harassment of Newsweek correspondent Maziar Bahari.

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