An Iraqi in America: ‘Time is like a sword’ here
It has been almost nine months since I arrived in the United States. I can’t believe how fast life is moving and how different my family’s days are now are from the old days—that was a beautiful time. Everything is changing now. There’s no simplicity for us anymore.
Ben Brik, still jailed in Tunisia: ‘Chains will certainly break!’
“When people want to live, destiny must surely respond. Darknesss will disappear, chains will certainly break!”Journalist Taoufik Ben Brik, 49, spurred admiration among his relatives and lawyers at a Tunis appeals court on Saturday when he chanted these two verses by Abou El Kacem Chebbi, Tunisia’s most well-known poet. This unexpected recitation of Chebbi’s verses,…
Algerian newspaper covering corruption suspended
A court in central Algiers indefinitely banned the bimonthly newspaper Sirry Lelghaya (Highly Classified), a supplement of Al-Monaqasa newspaper, as of November 3, 2009. According to local news reports, the vague wording of the decision noted licensing irregularities without providing details. The court’s decision was issued in accordance with the Information Act of 4/4/1990 and the Penal Code. This legislation grants the judiciary…
Mauritanian journalist still being held after prison term ends
Dear Mr. President, The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to protest the continued detention and relentless campaign of persecution against Hanevy Ould Dehah, editor of the online news site Taqadoumy, who has been imprisoned since June.
Prison term completed, Tunisian still behind bars
New York, January 20, 2010—An appeals court in the city of Nabeul refused today to release Tunisian Zuhair Makhlouf despite his completion of a three-month prison term imposed in October. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the court’s decision and demands authorities release Makhlouf immediately.
Yemeni court gives journalist 3 months in jail
New York, January 19, 2010—A journalist at a Yemeni weekly was sentenced on Saturday, in absentia, to three months in jail and was banned from writing for a year. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Sana’a court’s decision and calls on the Yemeni judiciary to reverse the sentence on appeal.
In Tunisia, a journalist is sentenced to four years in prison
New York, January 15, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the Tunisian judiciary to reverse on appeal the Wednesday decision of a Tunisian court in the southern town of Gafsa to sentence Fahem Boukadous, correspondent for the satellite television station Al-Hiwar Al-Tunisi, to a four-year prison term.
Editor-in-chief facing deportation in Israel
New York, January 14, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the immediate release in Israel of Jared Malsin, editor-in-chief of the English-language section of the independent Bethlehem-based Ma’an News Agency. A deportation hearing has been scheduled for Sunday.
U.S. editor barred from re-entering Israel
We issued the following statement today after learning that Israeli authorities have detained Jared Malsin, a U.S. citizen and editor-in-chief of the English-language section of the independent Bethlehem-based Ma’an News Agency, at the Tel Aviv airport. Malsin was due to be expelled without a hearing on Thursday morning. Protests by the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem…