Jordan / Middle East & North Africa

  

CPJ protests government closure of Al-Jazeera’s Amman bureau

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly protests your government’s closure of the Amman bureau of the Qatar-based satellite television channel Al-Jazeera. On August 7, Information Minister Muhammad Adwan revoked the station’s license to operate in Jordan and barred its staff from working for the station in the country. The move came after a guest on that day’s broadcast of the debate program “Opposite Direction” criticized Jordan’s relationship with Israel.

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Former Parliament member sentenced for publishing “false information”

Your Majesty: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to protest the 18-month prison sentence handed down yesterday against Toujan al-Faisal, a writer and former member of Jordan’s Parliament. A State Security Court in Amman convicted al-Faisal of publishing “false information abroad,” “harming the dignity of the state and undermining the reputation of the state and its individuals,” and “incitement to unrest,” a source at the hearing told CPJ.

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Attacks on the Press 2001: Middle East Analysis

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…

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Attacks on the Press 2001: Jordan

King Abdullah II, who promised political reform when he began his reign in February 1999, has repeatedly affirmed that “the sky is the limit” for press freedom in Jordan. The reality is very different. Harsh new legal restrictions, along with familiar hardships such as threats and detentions, led to a deterioration in press freedom conditions…

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PRESS CRACKDOWN CONTINUES

New York, March 20, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by increasing state restrictions on the press in Jordan, including the detention of some journalists and the harassment of others by security agents. On March 17, a State Security Court prosecutor imposed a 15-day detention on Hashem Khalidi, editor of the weekly newspaper…

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Government tries to censor TV coverage of pro-Palestinian protests

Your Majesty: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about several recent government attempts to stifle television news coverage of pro-Palestinian rallies in Jordan. On March 5, the state-run Jordan TV (JTV) barred Reuters TV, Associated Press Television News (APTN), and Al-Jazeera from using its facilities to relay footage of pro-Palestinian students demonstrating at Jordan University.

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Court censors opposition weekly over corruption coverage

New York, March 5, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about a recent Jordanian court decision to delay the publication of the opposition weekly Al Majd. On March 3, the State Security Court banned the publication of the March 4 issue of Al-Majd unless the paper’s management agreed to remove two articles about…

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Editor arrested for publishing “false information”

Your Majesty: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to protest the recent arrest of Fahd al-Rimawi, editor of the weekly newspaper Al-Majd. On January 13, according to press reports and CPJ sources, a State Security Court prosecutor in Amman summoned al-Rimawi and accused him of publishing “false information,” an offense under Jordan’s Penal Code. He was subsequently ordered detained for 15 days for questioning.

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Covering the New War

Read first-hand accounts by journalists covering the war in Afghanistan. • December 21, 2001—The New York Times reported that on December 20, Afghan tribal fighters detained three photojournalists working for U.S. news organizations. The journalists were detained for more than one hour, apparently at the behest of U.S. Special Operations forces in the Tora Bora area….

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Between Two Worlds

Qatar’s Al-Jazeera satellite channel faces conflicting expectations

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