Journalists detained and attacked in Iraqi Kurdistan
Beirut, April 20, 2023—Iraqi Kurdistan authorities should immediately return equipment confiscated from the privately owned outlet Rast Media and ensure those who attacked a news crew for the local broadcaster KNN TV are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Monday, April 17, eight officers with the regional Asayish intelligence agency…
Journalist Saeed Seif-Ali rearrested in Iran
Washington, D.C., April 17, 2023—Iranian authorities should immediately release journalist Saeed Seif-Ali and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On April 11, authorities summoned Seif-Ali, editor-in-chief of the state-run news website Didbaniran.ir, and then arrested him and took him to an undisclosed location, according to news reports. Seif-Ali was previously…
Lebanese authorities summon 2 journalists in separate cases
On March 30, 2023, two officers with Lebanon’s General Directorate of State Security stopped Jean Kassir, founder of the news website Megaphone, while he was driving in the capital city of Beirut, according to Megaphone and Kassir, who spoke to CPJ in person. The officers summoned Kassir to attend questioning at the directorate’s office the…
Covering the West Bank: Security insights and tips for journalists
As the Jerusalem correspondent for the Guardian newspaper, Bethan McKernan has spent much of the last year covering the escalating cycle of violence in in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It feels, she says, like “a slow-motion opening salvo of a new war.” According to the U.S.-based non-profit Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project…
Algerian authorities sentence journalist Ihsane el-Kadi to 5 years in prison, dissolve outlets Radio M and Maghreb Emergent
New York, April 3, 2023 – In response to news reports that an Algerian court sentenced journalist Ihsane el-Kadi to five years in prison on Sunday and dissolved the local independent broadcaster Radio M and news website Maghreb Emergent, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “An Algerian court’s decision to…
Israeli authorities shutter Voice of Palestine radio’s Israel operations, question 5 journalists
New York, March 20, 2023 – Israeli authorities should immediately reverse their order to shut down the Israeli operations of the Voice of Palestine radio station and should cease harassing members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Monday, March 20, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered Voice of Palestine, the…
Independent journalists banned from covering opening session of new Tunisian parliament
New York, March 14, 2023—In response to news reports that Tunisian lawmakers on Monday banned all non-state media journalists from covering the opening session of parliament, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “Barring journalists from covering the opening session of Tunisia’s new parliament is President Kais Saied’s latest attempt to…
Trial to start Tuesday for 3 Mada Masr journalists in Egypt
New York, March 6, 2023–In response to reports that three journalists from the Egyptian independent news website Mada Masr are scheduled to face trial on Tuesday, March 7, on charges of misusing social media and offending members of parliament, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for the charges against them to…
Iraqi Kurdistan university official attacks journalists covering student protest
On February 19, 2023, an official at the girls’ dormitories of Iraqi Kurdistan’s Erbil Polytechnic University attacked several journalists covering student protests and broke some of their equipment, according to news reports, videos posted on social media, and phone interviews with some of the journalists. The students were protesting the lack of water, fuel, electricity,…
Tunisian police file complaint against journalist Mohamed Mehdi Jlassi over July protests
New York, February 24, 2023 — In response to news reports that Tunisian journalist Mohamed Mehdi Jlassi, president of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, faces prosecution for allegedly inciting disobedience and assaulting police during a July 2022 protest in the capital Tunis, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement on Friday: “Tunisian…