Middle East & North Africa

  

A Loyal Press

Independence means isolation for journalists in Sisi’s Egypt By Ursula Lindsey When President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi took office in Egypt in 2014, after leading the army’s ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, he promised to restore peace and prosperity through strong leadership.

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Where I’ve Never Set Foot

Barred from Syria, a journalist must make sense of what she’s told By Alessandria Masi The morning after the attack, my deputy editor and I lit cigarettes as we squatted on the green couch in our closet-size Beirut office, hanging out the window and talking about what we thought had really happened in Syria.

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Houthis fighters secure a road between Hodeidah and Sanaa in Yemen on April 19, 2017. Journalists have been threatened and attacked in areas controlled by the Houthis. (AP/Hani Mohammed)

Collapse of state institutions leaves Yemeni journalists vulnerable

A journalist dies mysteriously in Yemen after receiving threats because of his work, and the resulting autopsy raises more questions than answers. A columnist in the same country is sentenced to death on espionage charges in an opaque trial.

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Egypt's President Sisi, pictured in Cairo in March 2017, has declared a state of emergency and said the press needs to be more responsible. (AFP/Khaled Desouki)

Egypt’s state of emergency may act to further silence press

Hours after two bombs ripped through packed Palm Sunday services in Coptic Churches in Alexandria and Tanta on April 9, killing nearly 50 people, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi announced a three-month state of emergency. The measure is in many ways an extension of what has already been in place in parts of the Sinai…

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Libyans attend a candlelit concert in Benghazi to mark "Earth Hour," on March 25, 2017. Security forces have detained AFP photographer Abdullah Doma twice since he covered the event. (AFP/Abdullah Doma)

AFP photographer repeatedly harassed by Libyan security forces

New York, April 4, 2017–Security forces in Benghazi should stop harassing AFP photojournalist Abdullah Doma and ensure that he can work safely and without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Security forces in the eastern Libyan city have twice detained Doma in the last week, according to AFP and other news…

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A child poses for a picture with a poster of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo, August 6, 2015, as supporters cheered improvements to the Suez Canal.

As Egypt-U.S. relationship moves forward, jailed Egyptian journalists left behind

Among the things Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and U.S. President Donald Trump are scheduled to discuss during their April 3 meeting in Washington is Egypt’s fight against terrorism. Egypt’s government has broadly interpreted this fight to include jailing dozens of journalists, including photographer Abdelrahman Yaqot, who a few days before el-Sisi arrives in Washington…

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Iranian editor, social media moderator detained

Security forces arrested Morad Saghafi from his home in Tehran on March 16, 2017, according to the official ILNA news agency, but to date have not made public any charges against him or the reason for his arrest. Saghafi is the editor of Goftegoo Magazine, which focuses on culture and social sciences. In a March…

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Mohammed al-Shaikh, a former AFP photographer pictured while covering protests in Manama in 2013, is detained in Bahrain. (AFP/STR)

Former AFP photographer arrested in Bahrain airport

New York, March 22, 2017–Bahraini authorities should immediately release Mohammed al-Shaikh, a photographer who worked for Agence France-Presse, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Al-Shaikh was arrested at Bahrain International Airport in the capital, Manama, yesterday and was transferred to the country’s Criminal Investigation Unit, according to Bahraini journalist Nazeeha Saeed and a statement…

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Palestinians protest against the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, March 13, 2017. (Reuters/Mohammed Torokman)

Security forces beat journalists covering Ramallah protest

Palestinian Authority security forces attacked journalists from media outlets including the Jordanian broadcaster Roya TV, the Palestinian broadcaster Watan TV, and the news website Palestine Today as they covered a March 12, 2017, protest in the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to news reports.

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Flames from a battle between rival armed groups are seen from a distance in Tripoli, Libya, August 24, 2014. (Reuters/Ismail Zetouni)

Libyan TV channel attacked, burned

New York, March 17, 2017–Armed men attacked the Tripoli office of the Libyan TV channel Al-Nabaa and set the building on fire, according to journalists for the station, news reports, and the Libyan Center for Freedom of the Press, an advocacy group. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in Tripoli to investigate…

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