New York, April 6, 2011–More than 20 foreign journalists were told that they would have to leave Libya within 24 hours, National Public Radio said today. NPR reported that Libyan authorities asked journalists from different international news outlets to leave the country. The media outlets include Britain’s Channel 4, CNN, Fox News, The Independent, Italian…
Suppression Under the Cover of National Security By Mohamed Abdel Dayem Relying on an extensive network of sources in the military, government, and Islamist groups, Yemeni freelance journalist Abdulelah Shaea had become a frequent and pointed critic of the administration’s counterterrorism efforts. By July, President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s government had enough, dispatching security agents to…
Top Developments • Tensions rise, media polarized as U.N. special tribunal closes in on indictments. • Technology bill includes several provisions that could restrict press freedom. Key Statistic 0: Arrests made in the murders of two journalists and a bomb attack against a third journalist in 2005. Political tensions grew sharply in late year as…
On a rainy Sunday in downtown Beirut, in St. George Cathedral at Place d’Etoile, the family of murdered Lebanese journalist Gebran Tueni gathered with the staff of his newspaper, Al-Nahar, to hold a memorial marking the fifth anniversary of Tueni’s assassination. The memorial was held in the same church where Tueni was married in 2001,…
Current Lebanese media laws exist in the perfect state of chaos. For example, a print journalist who is a member of the Journalists’ Syndicate, according to the Publication Law, is protected from administrative arrest for an opinion piece or an article he writes. However, if the same journalist broadcasts the very same opinion and some…
New York, December 10, 2010–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns harassment of the Lebanese news website Al-Akhbar after it published U.S. diplomatic cables that were first disclosed by WikiLeaks. The website was hacked this week by unknown attackers, while the Tunisian government blocked domestic access to the site. Saudi officials blocked access to the independent…
New York, August 3, 2010—Assaf Abu Rahal, a reporter for the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, was killed today during a border clash between Israeli and Lebanese military forces near the southern town of Al-Adaysseh, according to news reports. Abu Rahal, left, was struck by an Israeli shell after a skirmish broke out shortly after noon, news…
New York, June 28, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by repressive aspects of a new technology bill that is pending in the Lebanese parliament. CPJ urges parliament to remove several provisions that would restrict press freedom and free expression.