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…
Lebanese columnist, Hezbollah critic Lokman Slim shot and killed
New York, February 4, 2021 – Lebanese authorities must conduct a thorough investigation into the killing of political commentator Lokman Slim, determine if he was targeted for his journalism, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday evening, at about 8:30 p.m., Slim went missing after leaving the home…
Iraqi Kurdish security forces arrest photojournalist Qaraman Shukri
New York, February 1, 2021 – Iraqi Kurdish security forces should immediately release photojournalist Qaraman Shukri and cease harassing members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 8:30 a.m. on January 27, Asayish security forces affiliated with Iraqi Kurdistan’s ruling Democratic Party of Kurdistan arrested Shukri at his home in…
Kurdish Syrian journalist Fanar Mahmoud Tami abducted
New York, January 29, 2021 – The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed alarm over the abduction of Syrian journalist Fanar Mahmoud Tami, and called on all parties in northeast Syria to ensure his safety. In the evening of January 23, masked assailants driving a white jeep abducted Tami, a freelance journalist who publishes news…