UN expert committee: Israel’s detention of Palestinian journalists unlawful
The finding follows CPJ’s submission; expert body requests journalists’ immediate release due to arbitrary detention. New York, October 29, 2024—United Nations legal experts determined that Israel’s detention of three Palestinian journalists — Moath Amarneh, Mohammad Badr, and Ameer Abu Iram — is discriminatory, arbitrary, and in violation of international law. The expert opinion by the…
Journalists face Israeli strikes, displacement, attacks as war escalates in Lebanon
The recent escalation of Israel’s war in Lebanon has imperiled the press as they face Israeli strikes that have destroyed news outlet offices and killed at least three journalists, in addition to being assaulted, obstructed, threatened, and detained while reporting. At about 3 a.m. on October 25, an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing 18 journalists from multiple…
Jailed Tunisian commentator Sonia Dahmani given further 2-year sentence
New York, October 25, 2024 – Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release political commentator Sonia Dahmani, who was sentenced on Thursday to two years in prison for spreading false news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “Sonia Dahmani is already serving an eight-month prison term in Tunisia and sentencing her to two more…
3 killed, 3 hurt in Israeli strike on journalists’ compound in Lebanon
Beirut, October 25, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is appalled by Friday’s Israeli attack that killed two journalists and a media worker and injured at least three others, and calls for an independent investigation to determine whether the journalists’ compound was deliberately targeted. At about 3 a.m. on October 25, an airstrike hit a compound…
Egyptian authorities arrest economic commentator Abdel Khaleq Farouk
Washington, D.C., October 23, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egyptian authorities to immediately release economic commentator and analyst Abdel Khaleq Farouk, who was arrested October 20 on charges of joining a terrorist organization and spreading false and inciting news for allegedly criticizing President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi’s economic policies in more than 40 articles. “The arrest of…
RSF paramilitary group seizes Sudanese journalist’s home in South Darfur
New York, October 23, 2024—The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) must immediately return the home of journalist Ashraf Omer Ibrahim — a South Darfur Radio and Television correspondent and a local Al-Zarqa satellite channel presenter — after the paramilitary group seized it last week in Nyala, South Darfur, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. “The…
Morocco’s pardoned journalists face smears, threats after prison
When Moroccan authorities released three prominent journalists in July as part of a mass pardon marking King Mohamed VI’s 25 years on the throne, their friends and families celebrated. But the excitement was short-lived. Taoufik Bouachrine, Soulaiman Raissouni, and Omar Radi have been shamed in the media, stalked, and harassed since their release as they…
CPJ, partners support US Congress call to let international media access Gaza independently
The Committee to Protect Journalists and 18 other press freedom and human rights organizations issued a statement supporting a call from members of the U.S. Congress, led by Rep. Jim McGovern, asking the Biden-Harris administration to urge Israel to allow independent access to Gaza for U.S. and international journalists, in the interest of transparency, accountability,…
CPJ, partners call for transparency as exiled Syrian journalist applies for UK citizenship
CPJ joined three other international press freedom and human rights organizations in an October 18 letter to U.K. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper expressing concerns over delays in the citizen application of Zaina Erhaim, an award-winning exiled Syrian journalist who has lived in the U.K. since 2017 and has been targeted by Syrian authorities due to…
Saudi Arabia sentences cartoonist Mohammed al-Ghamdi to 23 years
Washington, D.C., October 18, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Saudi authorities to release Mohammed al-Ghamdi, a Saudi cartoonist for the Qatar-based Lusail newspaper, who was sentenced on an undisclosed date in 2024 to 23 years in prison on charges that his cartoons were sympathetic to Qatar and insulted the Saudi government. “By sentencing…