New York, September 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about an edict issued Saturday by a top Saudi Muslim cleric, who said that writers who challenge or criticize religious sheikhs should be fired from their jobs, flogged, and jailed. Sheikh Abdallah Ben Jabreen, a former member of the Saudi Arabia’s Establishment of…
New York, September 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the abduction for nearly two hours on Saturday of Internet journalist Slim Boukhdhir, who has been continuously harassed since he was freed in July after a politically motivated imprisonment. Boukhdhir, who spent eight months in prison for writing articles critical of President Zine…
IPFA Awards 2008 To Attend the Awards Dinner (PDF) Bilal Hussein Danish Karokhel and Farida Nekzad Andrew Mwenda Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez Beatrice Mtetwa New York, September 16, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists will honor courageous journalists from Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda, and Cuba with its 2008 International Press Freedom Awards at a ceremony in November. Bilal…
To Attend the Benefit Dinner (PDF)| Awards 2008 |Announcement of the Awards | Danish Karokhel and Farida Nekzad | Andrew Mwenda | Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez | Beatrice Mtetwa Bilal Hussein, 37, made his mark as a photographer for The Associated Press during the 2004 battle of Fallujah. The city, a stronghold of al-Qaeda in Iraq and its…
New York, September 18, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the religious edict issued on September 9 by a top Saudi cleric calling for the death of owners of satellite TV stations that air “immoral” soap operas. Sheikh Saleh al-Lihedan’s fatwa came in response to a question asked on Radio Quran, a…
New York, September 18, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes a Moroccan court decision today that overturns a two-year prison sentence and a fine against blogger and journalist Mohamed Erraji. On September 9, the court in Agadir, in southwest Morocco, convicted Erraji in a 10-minute trial¸ sentencing him to prison and a fine of 5,000…
New York, September 17, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that authorities in Yemen continue to hold a fixer in custody while releasing another. The two were picked up in July with a reporter for the U.S.-based television network HDNet. Mohammed Ahmed Hassan al-Bokhaiti, an interpreter, was released on Sunday after spending almost two…
We announced the 2008 International Press Freedom Award recipients on Tuesday, and the news has been well-received worldwide. Bilal Hussein of Iraq, Danish Karokhel and Farida Nekzad of Afghanistan, Andrew Mwenda of Uganda, and Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez of Cuba will all be honored by CPJ on November 25 for their courageous work. Beatrice Mtetewa, of Zimbabwe will…
New York, September 15, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the arrest of suspects in the killing of three journalists and a media worker in Mosul on Saturday. CNN reported that two suspects have been arrested in Mosul, according to Gen. Jalal Tawfeeq, military operations commander of Nineveh province, who spoke to al-Sharqiya. According to…
Tunisia’s media, one of the most muzzled in the Arab world, reported for the first time a couple weeks ago that a high-ranking U.S. official had raised the issue of reform with the country’s autocratic ruler, who is also a zealous supporter of President George W. Bush’s war on terror. The official was Secretary of…