Middle East & North Africa

  

My Islamic State Social Network

My first conversation with Islamic State was about my reporting. I had just shared an article I’d written about the terrorist group recruiting Western fighters on my Twitter when I saw that someone using the Twitter handle Abu Omar had also posted a link to the piece on his own account. His profile photo unabashedly…

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CPJ condemns Iran’s jailing of journalists

New York, April 26, 2016 — The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns an Iranian court’s sentencing of three reformist journalists. Tehran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced the three to between five and 10 years in prison on charges of “acting against national security,” according to press reports.

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Young people run from police tear gas amid calls for protests in downtown Cairo, April 25, 2016. (Mohamed El-Shahed/AFP)

Scores of journalists harassed, detained amid Egypt protests

New York, April 25, 2016–Egyptian authorities should immediately cease detaining and harassing journalists, and allow them to do their jobs, including allowing them to cover street protests, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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CPJ concerned by reports of Egyptian accusations against Reuters

New York, April 22, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by reports in the Egyptian media that authorities have accused Reuters of “spreading false news” in a report on the death of an Italian student. The press reports could not be verified and Reuters said it had not received notification of legal action.

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Mauritanian appeals court upholds death sentence for blogger

New York, April 21, 2016– An appeals court in Nouadhibou today upheld the death sentence for Mauritanian blogger and freelance journalist Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed, who was convicted of apostasy in 2014 for an article he wrote, according to news reports.

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Australian television journalists detained for two weeks in Lebanon

Four television journalists with the Australian broadcaster Channel Nine were released from a Lebanese prison on April 20, 2016, after two weeks in detention, Beirut’s English-language Daily Star newspaper reported.

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CPJ joins call for World Bank to adopt human rights policy

The Committee to Protect Journalists has joined Social Justice Connection and other press freedom and human rights groups in calling on the World Bank to adopt a human rights policy at its annual spring meeting in Washington D.C. In a letter to the president of World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, the groups urged the bank…

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A police officer stands guard at protests in central Cairo, April 15, 2016 (Reuters/Amr Abdallah)

Journalists injured, harassed covering protests in Egypt

New York, April 15, 2016 — Egyptian police should cease harassing journalists and ensure they can do their jobs safely, including at demonstrations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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News website Inkyfada hit with cyberattack after Panama Papers report

The independent Tunisian news website Inkyfada was hit with a cyberattack on April 4, 2016, hours after publishing a Panama Papers report that mentioned Tunisian politician Mohsen Marzouk, according to statements published by Inkyfada on its Facebook page. During the attack Inkyfada’s website was hacked and its content manipulated, with hackers attempting to publish names…

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Egyptian editor, press freedom advocate faces arrest

New York, April 5, 2016 – Egyptian prosecutors should immediately drop criminal charges against editor and press freedom advocate Khaled El-Balshy, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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