CPJ’s Yeganeh Rezaian on mass protests and journalist arrests in Iran
When mass protests erupted in Iran more than a week ago, the government cracked down hard. While clashes between security forces and demonstrators left many dead and disruptions to internet service made information hard to obtain, CPJ learned that security forces had arrested at least 28 journalists as of September 29. (Click here for CPJ’s…
Kurdistan 24 reporter ‘wounded severely’ in Iran’s shelling in Iraqi Kurdistan
Beirut, September 28, 2022—Iran should immediately investigate whether journalists are being targeted by Iranian forces after a journalist in Iraqi Kurdistan was injured during Iranian strikes on the region, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Wednesday, September 28, 2022, Soran Kamaran, a correspondent for the Kurdistan 24 broadcaster owned by Kurdish Prime Minister…
Iran arrests at least 20 journalists amid nationwide anti-government protests
Washington D.C., September 26, 2022—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to end their crackdown on journalists and release all arrested since the start of anti-government protests last week. “Iranian authorities should be ashamed of themselves for orchestrating this brutal crackdown. They have proved their failure to grasp that suppressing dissenting voices only compounds dissent,”…
Iranian security forces step up arrests of journalists amid anti-state protests
Editor’s note: This report was updated on September 29 to include news of additional arrests. See here for ongoing updates to the list of journalists arrested after that date. Washington, D.C., September 29, 2022—The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all journalists arrested while covering mass protests around…
Iranian photojournalist Yalda Moaiery arrested during anti-state protests
Washington, D.C., September 20, 2022—Iranian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Yalda Moaiery, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Monday, September 19, Iranian security forces arrested Moaiery, a prominent photojournalist, as she was covering anti-state protests on Hejab street in downtown Tehran, Iran’s capital, she said on Instagram Stories directly after her arrest. (CPJ reviewed her story…
Journalists tell CPJ how Tunisia’s tough new constitution curbs their access to information
When a CPJ researcher sat down with Lotfi Hajji, Tunisia bureau chief of Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera at a coffee shop in Tunis in July, we noticed that a man sitting directly behind us was recording our conversation on his phone. When we stood up to take a selfie with him in the background, the man…
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…
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…
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…
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…