Middle East & North Africa

  
People holding pictures of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a symbolic funeral prayer held in Istanbul, Turkey on November 16, 2018. (REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir)

US, UN must probe Saudi crown prince role in “extrajudicial killing” of Jamal Khashoggi, report says

Paris, June 19, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed a United Nations report calling on both the head of the U.N. and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to open criminal probes into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

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Demonstrators are seen in Algiers, Algeria, on May 17, 2019. Independent news websites Tout Sur l'Algérie and Algérie Part have been widely inaccessible in the country since June 12. (Reuters/Ramzi Boudina)

Two news websites inaccessible in Algeria amid protests, social media shutdowns

New York, June 17, 2019 — Independent news websites Tout Sur l’Algérie and Algérie Part have been widely inaccessible within Algeria since June 12, according to local journalists and news reports. The apparently targeted disruption took place amid anti-government protests that have been ongoing for nearly four months, and began shortly before several social media…

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A man uses his smartphone to follow election news in Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2017. Iran charged four Telegram news channel Gam reporters over labor coverage, it was reported June 11. (Reuters/TIMA)

Iran charges Telegram news channel Gam reporters over labor coverage

Washington, D.C., June 13, 2019 — Iranian authorities should immediately release three reporters for Gam (Step), a Telegram app news channel covering labor issues, and drop all charges against them and one other reporter for the channel, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Algerian journalists take part in a demonstration outside the headquarters of the country's national television broadcaster in Algiers on March 25, 2019. At least two journalists were recently suspended from the broadcaster. (AFP/Ryad Kramdi)

Algerian state broadcaster suspends two journalists amid reporters’ sit-ins

In April and May 2019, Algeria’s Public Establishment of Television, the state broadcaster, suspended at least two television journalists who sought to cover protests in the country, according to journalists who spoke to CPJ and news reports.

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CPJ calls on Yemeni government to ensure that the rights of all journalists are respected

CPJ thanks Yemeni Ambassador Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak for his May 2019 letter expressing concern for the welfare of journalists in areas under Houthi control, and calls on the Yemeni government to ensure that the rights of all journalists in the country are respected.

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Members of the Asayish are seen in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, on September 8, 2018. Asayish forces recently detained journalist Mohammad Tawfiq al-Saghir near Qamishli. (AFP/Delil Souleiman)

Kurdish security forces detain reporter Mohammad Tawfiq al-Saghir in northern Syria

New York, June 6, 2019 — Kurdish security forces in the northern Syrian city of al-Hasakah should immediately release journalist Mohammad Tawfiq al-Saghir, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Gaza City port, pictured on May 16. The attorney general in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip has recommended that a court ban distribution of the pro-Fatah daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida. (AFP/Thomas Coex)

Hamas attorney general calls for Gaza ban of pro-Fatah weekly

Beirut, June 5, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the attorney general in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to drop his recommendation that a court ban distribution of the pro-Fatah daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida.

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Iranian journalist Masoud Kazemi is seen entering Evin prison in Tehran on May 22, 2019. (Image via Twitter, used with permission)

Revolutionary court in Iran sentences journalist Masoud Kazemi to 4.5 years in prison

New York, June 3, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemned the sentencing today of Masoud Kazemi, the editor-in-chief of the monthly Sedaye Parsi political magazine. Judge Mohammad Moghiseh of Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Branch 28 court found Kazemi guilty on national security charges of spreading misinformation and insulting the supreme leader and…

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Supporters of the Houthi movement attend a rally to mark the fourth anniversary of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen's war, in Sanaa, Yemen, on March 26, 2019. The Houthis are currently detaining at least 10 journalists in harsh conditions. (Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)

CPJ calls on Houthis in Yemen to release all detained journalists

New York, May 31, 2019–The Ansar Allah group, known as the Houthis, should immediately release all journalists in its custody and stop its campaign of detentions and intimidation against journalists working in areas under its control, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Sudanese wave flags and chant slogans as they gather outside the army headquarters in Khartoum on May 30. Sudan's military rulers have ordered Al-Jazeera's Khartoum bureau to be shut down. (AFP/Ashraf Shazly)

Sudan’s military rulers shut down Al-Jazeera Khartoum bureau

Washington, D.C., May 31, 2019–Sudan’s military rulers yesterday ordered the Khartoum bureau of Al-Jazeera to be shut down and banned its staff from working in the country, the Qatari-broadcaster said today. Forces yesterday raided the outlet without providing a reason and confiscated work permits for staff and broadcasting equipment, Hassan Saeed Elmogummer Taha, an Al-Jazeera…

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