Middle East & North Africa

  

Iranian journalist Mansour Iranpour serving 1-year sentence in Kerman central prison

Washington, D.C., September 14, 2022 — Iranian authorities must release journalist Mansour Iranpour from prison immediately and should cease jailing members of the press for doing their jobs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.  On January 16, Judge Moslem Salari of Branch 2 of Jiroft city penal court in Iran’s central Kerman province convicted Iranpour on…

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Algerian journalist Belkacem Haouam arrested, held in pretrial detention

New York, September 9, 2022—Algerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Belkacem Haouam and cease detaining journalists for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Thursday, September 8, authorities in Algiers, the capital, arrested Haouam, a reporter for the local independent daily newspaper Echorouk, after he responded to a summons for…

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Kareem Kaifi

Iraqi Kurdish Asayish forces detain NRT reporter Kareem Kaifi overnight

On September 5, 2022, Iraqi Kurdistan Asayish forces arrested NRT broadcast reporter Kareem Kaifi while he tried to cover a drone attack in Erbil governate’s Soran district, according to a report by the broadcaster and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview. Earlier that day, a drone attack targeted a group of…

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Tunisian authorities arrest journalist Ghassen Ben Khelifa for alleged terrorism

New York, September 7, 2022–Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Ghassen Ben Khelifa and cease detaining members of the press on vague national security grounds, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, September 6, state security officers arrested Ben Khelifa, editor-in-chief of the local independent newspaper Inhiyez, at his home in…

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Egyptian authorities summon 4 Mada Masr journalists for interrogation

New York, September 6, 2022 – In response to news reports that Egyptian authorities recently summoned four journalists from the independent news website Mada Masr for interrogation, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for authorities to cease harassing the outlet and its staff: “Egyptian authorities should drop their attempt to interrogate…

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Israel finds Shireen Abu Akleh likely killed by unintentional Israeli fire

Washington, D.C., September 5, 2022—In response to news reports that an internal Israeli investigation released Monday found that Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was likely killed by unintentional Israel Defense Forces fire, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for accountability: “The Israel Defense Forces’ admission of guilt is late and incomplete….

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Iranian freelance journalist Hadi Pourbeheshti arrested in Kerman

Washington, D.C., September 2, 2022—Iranian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Hadi Pourbeheshti, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Sunday, August 28, security forces raided Pourbeheshti’s home in the city of Kerman in the southeastern Kerman province, and arrested him while ransacking his house in the presence of his family, according to…

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Iraqi security forces assault, detain journalists covering Baghdad protests

New York, August 31, 2022 – Iraqi authorities should stop assaulting and detaining journalists and take all necessary measures to ensure their safety while reporting on mass political protests, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Monday, August 29, Iraqi security forces arrested, assaulted, or confiscated equipment from journalists with local and international outlets…

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Egyptian journalist Raouf Ebeid detained since July

New York, August 25, 2022—Egyptian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Raouf Ebeid and drop the charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On July 7, state security forces arrested Ebeid, a reporter for state-owned weekly print newspaper Rose al-Yousef, from his home in Cairo, and detained him in an unknown…

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CPJ joins letters urging U.S. government to hold NSO Group accountable on spyware

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined human rights and press freedom organizations in separate actions in August urging the United States government to hold NSO Group accountable for providing Pegasus spyware to governments that have used the tool to secretly surveil journalists around the world. In a joint letter to Acting Solicitor General Brian Fletcher…

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