Middle East & North Africa

  

Freedom and Captivity: Terry Anderson Interviews Andrei Babitsky

July 17, 2000– Earlier this month, CPJ Vice Chairman Terry Anderson visited Moscow as a member of an international delegation of press freedom advocates. The delegation met with a consortium of Russian journalists and officials to voice concern over the increasing number of attacks on the Russian media. On July 12, Anderson spoke with Russian…

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Journalist sentenced for criticizing regime

Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in IRAN New York, July 17, 2000–A leading Iranian reporter detained since late May was sentenced today by Tehran’s Press Court to five and a half years in prison, Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. Emadeddin Baghi’s incarceration is the result of a multitude…

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Syria: New president urged to free imprisoned journalists, unshackle press

Your Excellency: On the occasion of your recent confirmation as President, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to urge you to do everything in your power to ensure that your government upholds international press freedom standards and guarantees the rights of journalists to practice their profession freely.

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Iran: Supreme Leader quashes parliamentary debate on press-code reform

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) wishes to protest your arbitrary and ill-advised decision to quash a proposed parliamentary bill to amend Iran’s harsh press laws.

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Liberal Opposition Journalist Arrested; Another Reformist Organ Shut Down

Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in IRAN New York, August 7, 2000 — A bill to reform Iran’s harsh press laws was quashed on Sunday by the country’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The next day, a liberal opposition journalist was arrested, according to wire service reports.

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Lebanon: Repected journalist’s passport revoked

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to strongly protest the Lebanese authorities’ recent decision to annul the passport of Raghida Dergham, the New York bureau chief for the London-based daily Al-Hayat and a widely respected commentator on Arab affairs.

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Judiciary bans another newspaper

New York, June 28, 2000 — A clerical court in Tehran has ordered the indefinite closure of one of the country’s last remaining pro-reform newspapers, bringing to 20 the number of papers closed by Iranian courts over the past two months. On Sunday, June 25, Iran’s Special Court for Clergy, a conservative tribunal that operates…

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Israel: Killing of BBC driver in south Lebanon either deliberate or reckless, finds CPJ

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to express its deep concern about the recent death of Abed Takkoush, a driver for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Takkoush was killed by Israeli shellfire in southern Lebanon on May 23 during Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory.

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Palestine: Police detain journalist

Dear Gen. Jebali: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to express its profound concern about the ongoing detention of Maher al-Alami, a Palestinian free-lance journalist who writes frequently for the weekly Al-Istiqlal.

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King amnesties convicted journalists

Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in MOROCCO New York, June 2, 2000 — Morocco’s King Muhammad VI issued a royal pardon last Sunday annulling the prison sentences and other penalties recently imposed on two journalists for allegedly libeling Foreign Minister Muhammad Benaissa, the Committee to Protect Journalists has learned.

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