Middle East & North Africa

  

Morocco: Censorship, criminal prosecution of journalists on the rise

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about government restrictions on press freedom in Morocco this year. During the past four months, Moroccan authorities have taken several punitive measures against the press, including the censorship of newspapers and the criminal prosecution of journalists.

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TAOUFIK BEN BRIK ENDS 43-DAY HUNGER STRIKE

New York, May 16, 2000 —Tunisian journalist Taoufik Ben Brik, who went 43 days without food to protest government harassment, ended his hunger strike yesterday in Paris, where he has been staying since leaving Tunisia on May 4. Ben Brik had vowed to continue his strike until Tunisian authorities released his brother Jalal Zoughlami, who…

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Editor charged with instigating “sectarian feuds”

Al-Ayyam is the first and only Yemeni newspaper to interview Abu Hamza Al-Masri. “I Paid A lot of Taxes to the ‘Non-Believers’ and Now I Reap the Benefits” [Published in Al-Ayyam, August 11, 1999] [CPJ Editor’s Note: This translation has been edited for style].

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CPJ and Human Rights Watch Protest Ongoing Harassment of Tunisian Journalist

New York, April 5, 2000–In a joint letter sent today to Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) strongly protested the Tunisian authorities’ continued harassment of journalist Taoufik Ben Brik, who is being persecuted solely for exercising his internationally guaranteed right to freedom of expression.…

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Editor prosecuted for coverage of local terrorism trial

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to strongly protest the prosecution of Hisham Basharaheel, the editor in chief and publisher of the independent thrice-weekly newspaper Al-Ayyam.

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Iran Briefing: May 2000

New York, May 5, 2000 —When Iran’s top cleric, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, launched a scathing tirade against the country’s pro-reform newspapers on April 20, journalists braced for the inevitable showdown. On previous occasions when the supreme leader had excoriated the press, the conservative-dominated judiciary responded with remarkable swiftness, shutting down newspapers and hauling journalists to…

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Free to travel but still on hunger strike, Tunisian journalist arrives in France for medical care

Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in TUNISIA. New York, May 5, 2000 — Tunisian authorities lifted a travel ban imposed on journalist Taoufik Ben Brik, who arrived in France yesterday. But Ben Brik vowed to continue his 33-day hunger strike until his brother is freed from government custody, the Committee to…

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Spotlight on Press Tyrants: CPJ Names Ten Worst Enemies of the Press

On World Press Freedom Day ENEMIES OF THE PRESS 1999 ENEMIES OF THE PRESS 1998 ENEMIES OF THE PRESS 1997ENEMIES OF THE PRESS 1996

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Three more pro-reform papers shut down

Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in IRAN. [Click here to read CPJ’s protest letter of April 14]

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Parliament to vote on strengthening criminal defamation penalties

Honorable Members of Parliament: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a non-governmental organization of journalists devoted to upholding press freedom worldwide, is concerned about draft Penal Code amendments, now under discussion in Parliament, that would substantially increase criminal penalties for defamation.

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