Middle East & North Africa

  
A newspaper street vendor outside the capital, Khartoum, in 2015. Sudan has fined a journalist over her critical column on the police. (AFP/Ashraf Shazly)

Sudanese journalist fined over column criticizing police

New York, August 22, 2017–Sudanese authorities yesterday fined Suheir Abdelrahim, a columnist for the daily Al-Tayyar, for a column criticizing the police, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the sentence and called on authorities not to contest the journalist’s appeal.

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Dozens of Egyptians shout slogans during a protest in Cairo against an accord to hand over control of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. Journalist Hany Salah el-Deen is arrested on accusations of 'inciting protests.' (AP/Amr Nabil)

Egyptian journalist arrested months after acquittal on terrorism charges

New York, August 22, 2017–Egyptian authorities should immediately release Hany Salah el-Deen, the former managing editor at the pro-government news website Youm Sabea, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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CPJ calls on Israel to reverse decision over Al-Jazeera reporter’s press card

The Committee to Protect Journalists requests that at a hearing scheduled for August 21, the Government Press Office reverses its decision to revoke the press card of Elias Karram, an Israeli journalist and Al-Jazeera Jerusalem correspondent.

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A computer in an internet cafe in Cairo displays an error message in this December 2, 2008, file photo. (Reuters/Amr Dalsh)

Egypt should stop blocking access to rights organizations’ websites

Washington, D.C., August 18, 2017 – Egyptian authorities should immediately stop blocking access to the website of the international press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF, for its French acronym) and the Egyptian group the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Internet users in Egypt have been…

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Children play in an inflatable castle in the rebel-held city of Douma, Syria, June 26, 2017. (Reuters/Bassem Khabieh)

Court sentences two Syrian journalists for blasphemy, shutters magazine

The Court of First Instance of the Second Criminal Court of the Syrian city of Douma, which is under the control of the rebel group the Army of Islam, on July 11, 2017, sentenced Shawkat Gharz al-Din, a journalist for Rising for Freedom, and Laila Safadi, the editor of the magazine, to two months in…

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A woman is reflected as she passes the BBC's broadcasting house in London, July 19, 2017. (Reuters/Neil Hall)

Iran bars BBC staff and contributors from selling property

Washington, D.C., August 15, 2017–Iranian authorities should immediately reverse an order banning 152 journalists and media workers with the BBC’s Persian service from buying or selling assets, cease harassing BBC journalists, and lift their ban on the station, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A screen shot of Ahmed al-Basheer's program shows him reacting to legal threats from Iraqi regulators.

Iraqi regulator threatens TV satirist with legal action

New York, August 14, 2017–Iraqi authorities should stop threatening the pro-Kurdish broadcaster NRT and political satirist Ahmed al-Basheer, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In a letter NRT received August 10, the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission inquired whether the broadcaster’s Arabic-language channel would continue airing al-Basheer’s program and threatened to pursue “legal action”…

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CPJ requests meeting with Israeli ambassador to the United States

CPJ requests a meeting with the Israeli ambassador to the United States to discuss the Israeli government’s threats to close Al-Jazeera’s bureau and other threats to press freedom in the country.

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A Palestinian man hurls stones at Israeli soldiers in the West Bank village of Deir Abu Mashal, near Ramallah, August 10, 2017. Israeli and Palestinian security forces have increased repression of the media as political tensions have increased in recent weeks. (Reuters/Mohamad Torokman)

Palestinian security forces arrest five journalists in West Bank

Beirut, August 10, 2017–Palestinian security forces should immediately release five journalists arrested in the West Bank yesterday and should cease arresting journalists on spurious charges, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Egyptian journalists protest the jailing of their colleagues at the Journalists' Syndicate in Cairo, May 3, 2016. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

Egypt censors Al-Mesryoon newspaper, harasses editors

New York, August 8, 2017–Egyptian authorities should stop censoring Al-Mesryoon newspaper and harassing its journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Authorities banned this week’s edition of the newspaper and summoned Al-Mesryoon Editor-in-Chief Gamal Sultan and Managing Editor Mahmoud Sultan for interrogation, according to Gamal Sultan and news reports.

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