Kuwait withdraws licenses of 90 news websites, refers 73 outlets for prosecution
Washington, D.C., June 24, 2022 – Kuwaiti authorities should restore the licenses recently withdrawn from dozens of news websites, and should ensure that media outlets are not prosecuted for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Wednesday, June 22, the Kuwaiti Information Ministry announced that over the last two weeks it had…
Iraqi Kurdish security forces prevent media outlets from covering drone strike in Erbil, detain journalist
On June 8, 2022, Iraqi Kurdish Asayish forces obstructed several crews from various media outlets and detained a journalist to prevent them from covering an explosive-laden drone strike that hit a road in the northeastern area of the city of Erbil, according to the broadcasters’ reports and journalists, who spoke with CPJ in phone interviews….
Journalist Saber al-Haidari killed in Yemen car bombing
New York, June 16, 2022 – All parties to the conflict in Yemen must stop targeting members of the press and ensure that journalist killings are fully investigated and those responsible are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Wednesday, June 15, a bomb planted in the car of Saber al-Haidari,…
CPJ calls on Biden not to normalize journalist killings and imprisonment ahead of Middle East trip
New York, June 14, 2022 – In response to Tuesday’s announcement of U.S. President Joe Biden’s upcoming visit to Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia to meet with regional leaders, the Committee to Protect Journalists reiterated a call for the U.S. government to press for accountability for the killings and imprisonment of journalists. Biden…
‘The war eats you alive’: Gaza journalists on the toll of covering Israeli attacks
Since May, Palestinian journalists have endured two traumatizing events: the killing of their colleague, Al-Jazeera’s Shireen Abu Akleh, and the one-year anniversary of an Israeli airstrike that destroyed a Gaza City building housing The Associated Press and Al-Jazeera, along with other offices and residential apartments, during an Israeli military campaign against militant groups in Gaza. That war…
Iraqi authorities threaten charges against journalists Saadoun Damad and Sarmad al-Taei, seek al-Taei’s arrest
New York, June 8, 2022 – Iraqi authorities must cease their legal harassment of journalists Sarmad al-Taei and Saadoun Damad, and ensure they can work freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On June 1, Damad, host of the program “Al-Mohayed” on the public TV broadcaster Iraqia, aired an interview with al-Taei,…
Iraqi federal police detain Kurdistan TV crew in Kirkuk
On May 25, 2022, the Iraqi federal police obstructed and detained a two-person crew working for Kurdistan TV, the official broadcaster of Iraqi Kurdistan’s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party, in a village in Daquq district, southwest of Kirkuk province, and released them after an hour of questioning, according to a report by Kurdistan TV and the…
Iranian freelance journalist Arash Ghaleh-Golab detained during mourning ceremony
Washington, D.C., June 1, 2022 — Iranian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release freelance reporter Arash Ghaleh-Golab, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On May 26, Ghaleh-Golab was at a traditional mourning ceremony near the Metropol building, which recently collapsed, killing 31 people, in Abadan city in the southwestern Khuzestan province, when he was…
Alleged PKK supporters attack Kurdistan 24 broadcast crew in Iraqi Kurdistan
On May 18, 2022, a group of unidentified alleged supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attacked a three-member Kurdistan 24 television crew in the Sulaymaniyah province of Iraqi Kurdistan while they were covering an investigation into the murder of the head of the PKK-affiliated Mesopotamia Workers Organization, according to a report by the broadcaster…