Iranian regime continues to crack down on press
New York, April 17, 2012–Sustaining their years-long campaign against the press, Iranian authorities have sentenced one journalist to prison and summoned another to serve a jail term, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities to release imprisoned journalists who are being held away from their families and in deprivation.
Armed men attack Yemeni journalist in Sana’a
New York, April 12, 2012–Prominent Yemeni journalist Muhammad al-Maqaleh was assaulted by armed men affiliated with a tribal group while visiting a government official’s house, the journalist told the Committee to Protect Journalists today. Al-Maqaleh has widely reported on the activities of tribal groups in Yemen.
Police attack Tunisian journalists covering protest
New York, April 10, 2012–Tunisian authorities must immediately investigate attacks against journalists covering a Martyrs’ Day protest in the Tunisian capital on Monday, the first series of anti-press attacks that the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented in three months, CPJ said today.
In Lebanon, cameraman killed by Syrian gunfire
New York, April 9, 2012–Syrian security forces shot and killed a Lebanese cameraman today as he was working in the northern Lebanese town of Wadi Khaled near the Syrian border, according to the journalist’s employer and news reports citing Lebanese officials. The cross-border death comes on the same day that Syrian security forces fired shots…
In Sudan, a new strategy to censor the press
Sudanese authorities have a long history of closing newspapers and silencing journalists. But the government security agents who carry out official censorship have launched a new strategy this year that focuses on economic impoverishment–leaving newspapers more vulnerable than ever.
Palestinian Authority detains, questions two journalists
New York, April 4, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Palestinian Authority’s recent anti-press actions in which one journalist was detained for a week for reporting on alleged corruption and spying and a second was questioned over a critical article and his posts on social media. These actions occurred despite the Authority’s recent announcement…
Syria detains, reportedly tortures videographer
New York, April 2, 2012–A prominent Syrian videographer who ran the media center in Baba Amr where two foreign journalists were killed in February has been detained since Wednesday, according to news reports. Ali Mahmoud Othman was initially held at a military intelligence unit in Aleppo and is believed to have been tortured, Paul Conroy, a…
Syrian cartoonist, attacked in August, returns to drawing
Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat is wielding his pen once more. According to news reports, the famous cartoonist, who suffered a severe beating in August, has regained 90 percent of the movement in his hands, which were deliberately targeted by his attackers before they dumped him on the side of a road.