Middle East & North Africa

  
Masked protesters carry portraits of Ahmed Ismail Hassan at a demonstration in Salmabad village, south of Manama, Bahrain, April 10, 2013. (Reuters)

Who Shot Ahmed?

On the night he was shot, Ahmed Ismail Hassan al Samadi was working. Protestors had gathered along a highway near his home in a small Bahraini village. With his handheld camcorder, Ahmed filmed as they marched. He filmed as security forces arrived in marked and unmarked cars. The citizen journalist had tens of hours of…

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Sudan orders news outlets to toe government line

New York, October 1, 2013–Amid violent protests in Sudan last week, authorities asked journalists to refrain from publishing news that they said would “disturb the public,” according to news reports. Several journalists were subsequently detained and multiple outlets shut down, news reports said.

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Clockwise from top left: Nedim Şener, Janet Hinostroza, Nguyen Van Hai, Bassem Youssef (AP, Sebastián Oquendo, To Coucle Refaat, Free Journalists Network of Vietnam)

News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, September 2013

Press freedom award winners announced Four journalists–Janet Hinostroza (Teleamazonas, Ecuador), Bassem Youssef (Capital Broadcast Center, Egypt), Nedim Şener (Posta, Turkey), and Nguyen Van Hai (Dieu Cay, Vietnam)–will be honored with CPJ’s 2013 International Press Freedom Awards in recognition of their courageous reporting in the face of severe reprisal.Upon receiving the news, Hinostroza told CPJ: “It will…

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Sudan must restore Internet access immediately

New York, September 25, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that Internet service in Sudan was shut down today in what seemed like an official attempt to stifle coverage of violent protests after the government lifted fuel subsidies on Monday.

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Spanish journalist missing in Syria

New York, September 24, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the immediate release of Spanish journalist Marc Marginedas in Syria. The special correspondent for the Barcelona-based El Periódico was kidnapped by rebel jihadi fighters on September 4 near the city of Hama, the paper reported Monday, citing unnamed sources.

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Egypt’s constitutional reforms should ensure free press

Dear Amr Moussa, president of the Constitutional Committee: We urge you to adopt comprehensive reforms that will unequivocally guarantee all Egyptians, including all media, freedom of speech and the right to information.

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Moroccan editor arrested for publishing link to video

New York, September 18, 2013–Authorities in Morocco should release an editor who was arrested on Tuesday in connection with an article published on his website, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Press harassed amid heightened tension in Egypt

New York, September 13, 2013–Egyptian authorities should halt their campaign of harassment on local and international journalists seeking to cover the ongoing political crisis in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The latest series of anti-press violations comes as the Egyptian government announced a two-month extension to the nationwide state of emergency.

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Endless surprises for Al-Jazeera

Mhamed Krichen/CPJ Board memberThere seems to be no end to American surprises when it comes to Al-Jazeera. The latest was revealed by Der Spiegel, the German weekly news magazine, which reported the U.S. National Security Agency hacked into our internal communications system, according to documents provided by Edward Snowden, the former NSA security analyst.

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Libyan journalist allowed medical treatment abroad

A judge in Tripoli on August 21, 2013, lifted the travel ban placed on Amara al-Khatabi, editor of the daily Al-Ummah, and ordered the return of the journalist’s passport, al-Khatabi’s lawyer, Ramadan Farag Salem, told CPJ and human rights organizations. 

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