New York Times journalist Nicole Perlroth on the secret trade in tools used to hack the press
The last time New York Times cybersecurity journalist Nicole Perlroth spoke with Emirati activist Ahmed Mansoor in 2016, his passport had been taken and he had recently been beaten almost to the point of death. “We learned later on that our phone conversation had been tapped, that someone was in his baby monitor, that his…
Egyptian columnist Gamal al-Gamal arrested, charged with terrorism, false news
New York, March 1, 2021 – Egyptian authorities must immediately release journalist Gamal al-Gamal and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On February 22, authorities arrested al-Gamal, a freelance columnist who contributes to local and regional news websites, in Cairo International Airport upon his return from Turkey, where he…
Three takeaways from the US intelligence report blaming Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman for Khashoggi’s murder
On Friday, the United States laid the blame for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi squarely at the feet of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a long-awaited report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The release of the report, which is just three pages long, signaled a change from the previous…
CPJ calls on US and allies to sanction Saudi crown prince in wake of Khashoggi report
New York, February 25, 2021 – In response to today’s release of a declassified U.S. intelligence report alleging that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Committee to Protect Journalists released the following statement: “By releasing this intelligence report, President Joe Biden’s administration has reinforced what we…
CPJ condemns Egyptian authorities’ judicial harassment of Sherif Mansour, family
New York, February 25, 2021—The Committee to Protect Journalists today issued the following statement in solidarity with Sherif Mansour, the Washington-based head of CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program, his family, and all those defending human rights and press freedom in Egypt: “Egypt, an ally of the United States, portrays itself as a democracy,…
Iranian journalist Nooshin Jafari begins 4-year jail term on propaganda and insult charges
New York, February 18, 2021 – Iranian authorities should immediately release Nooshin Jafari and stop imprisoning members of the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On February 16, police arrested Jafari at her home in Tehran and took her to the city’s Qarchak Prison to begin serving a four-year sentence,…
Iraqi Kurdish court sentences journalists Sherwan Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari to 6 years in jail
New York, February 16, 2021 – In response to today’s sentencing of Iraqi Kurdish freelance journalists Sherwan Amin Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari to six years each in jail, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Today’s sentencing of journalists Sherwan Amin Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari is not only unfair and disproportionate, but it…
Al-Jazeera’s Ghada Oueiss on hacking, harassment, and Jamal Khashoggi
In a mid-2020 Washington Post opinion piece, Lebanese Al-Jazeera broadcast journalist Ghada Oueiss described hackers stealing private photos and videos from her phone and posting them online. The leak resulted in a sharp escalation of online attacks, Oueiss told CPJ in a January 2021 call. Since the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi…
Journalist Adel al-Hasani held by Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council since September
New York, February 8, 2021 – Yemen’s breakaway Southern Transitional Council should release journalist Adel al-Hasani immediately and stop arbitrarily detaining and harassing members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On September 17, 2020, at a checkpoint between the southern cities of Aden and Abyan, security forces with the Southern Transitional…
Iran arrests journalist Reza Taleshian Jelodarzadeh
Washington, D.C., February 5, 2021—Iranian authorities must release journalist Reza Taleshian Jelodarzadeh and stop arresting members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 20, Jelodarzadeh, editor-in-chief of the Tehran-based Nour-e Azadi magazine, wrote on his Instagram account that he had been arrested by Iranian authorities and was being transferred to Greater Tehran Prison. He also…