State paper closed, editor and cartoonist charged
New York, May 23, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the closure today of an Iranian state newspaper, and the arrest of its editor-in-chief and a cartoonist who published a cartoon that sparked riots by ethnic Azeris in the northwestern city of Tabriz. Tehran’s chief prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, ordered the arrest of Mehrdad…
Two journalists detained after writing about divisions
New York, May 16, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the detention of two journalists who have written about divisions within Syria. Military intelligence service detained prominent activist and writer Michel Kilo on May 14 in Damascus, according to CPJ sources. Online journalist Muhammad Ghanem has been in detention for 47 days. Kilo,…
Journalists assaulted, detained while covering protests
New York, May 11, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that Egyptian police and security officers assaulted several journalists covering protests today in support of two judges facing dismissal for criticizing last year’s parliamentary elections. Several journalists detained while covering similar protests last month are still being held. Plainclothes police and security…
Iraqi reporter, support worker murdered south of Baghdad
New York, May 8, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murders of an Iraqi reporter and a media worker whose bodies were discovered early this morning south of Baghdad. Laith al-Dulaimi, a reporter for the privately owned TV station Al-Nahrain, and Muazaz Ahmed Barood, a telephone operator for the station, were kidnapped by men…
The world’s most censored countries
Could you pick out Equatorial Guinea on the world map? Or Turkmenistan, or Eritrea? Probably not at the first attempt. These countries are usually below the radar of the international media, and the autocrats who run them like it that way. It helps them crush press freedoms and keep their population in the dark. That is why the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based press freedom group, has drawn up a league table of the world’s 10 most censored countries. We hope that the list, issued on World Press Freedom Day, will shine a light into the dark corners of the world where governments and their political cronies decide what people will read, see, and hear.
Nobel laureate Mahfouz calls for release of jailed Arab journalists
New York, May 5, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists joins acclaimed Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz in calling on Arab governments to free jailed journalists including two Egyptian reporters detained last week while covering demonstrations in Cairo. Mahfouz, who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for literature, launched his appeal in an interview with the semi-official Egyptian…
Journalist facing trial on defamation charges
April 13, 2006 Posted: May 5, 2006 Mastura Mahmood, Rewan LEGAL ACTION Mastura Mahmood, 25, a journalist for the women’s weekly paper Rewan, faces trial on two separate defamation charges brought by the director of the Halabja Monument, Ibrahim Hawrami, and the general directorate of the security forces.