Middle East & North Africa

New York, February 26, 2018–Yemeni authorities should immediately release Awad Kashmeem and stop arbitrarily detaining critical journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Authorities on February 21 detained Kashmeem, the former governor of the board of directors for the government-aligned newspaper November 30, in Mokalla, Hadramout Province, according to Yemeni Journalists Syndicate co-chair Nabeel…

Beirut, February 23, 2018–Abdul Rahman Ismael Yassin, a reporter for the pro-opposition Hammouriyeh Media Office, died from injuries sustained in a February 20 airstrike in the rebel-held eastern Ghouta area outside of Damascus, according to his employer and the Syrian Journalists Association.

Maher Abdelaziz, an engineer for the pro-opposition channel Orient TV, was injured in a rocket attack on February 19, 2018, in the rebel-held eastern Ghouta area outside of Damascus, according to his employer and the Syrian Journalists Association.

New York, February 20, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the detention and subsequent disappearance of Egyptian journalist Moataz Wadnan, and today called on the country’s authorities to make public what they know about his whereabouts.

Recently proposed amendments to Jordan’s 2015 cybercrime law, including a vague and broad definition of hate speech, will further stifle press freedom on the pretext of protecting the country’s citizens, and could result in further self-censorship, several Jordanian journalists told CPJ.

Beirut, February 16, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the arrest of Palestinian journalist Abdul Mohsen Shalaldeh. Israeli security forces arrested Shalaldeh, a reporter for the Hamas-affiliated Quds News Network, at his home in the southern West Bank town of Sa’ir, on February 15, according to news reports, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, and…

New York, February 14, 2018–Moroccan authorities should drop all charges against Akhbar al-Youm columnist and publisher Taoufik Bouachrine on appeal, and allow him to work without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Walid al-Rashed, a media activist for the Syrian pro-opposition Ma’arra Media Center, was seriously injured during an airstrike on February 7, 2018, in the northwestern Syrian city of Ma’arra al-Numan, 21 miles south of Idlib, according to news reports, the Syrian Journalists Association, and his employer.

New York, February 8, 2018–A specialized criminal court in Saudi Arabia sentenced al-Watan columnist Saleh al-Shehi to five years in prison for “insulting the royal court,” and imposed a five-year travel ban that will go into effect on his release, according to a report published today in the privately-owned Saudi newspaper Okaz. Saudi security forces…

Beirut, February 6, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the arrest of Iraqi freelance journalist and political commentator Samir Obeid and called on Iraqi authorities to release him immediately.