Middle East & North Africa

  
A police vehicle is seen in Cairo, Egypt, on September 21, 2019. Police recently raided the Cairo offices of the Turkish Anadolu News Agency and arrested four people. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

Police raid Cairo offices of Turkish Anadolu News Agency, arrest at least 4

Washington, D.C., January 15, 2020 — Egyptian authorities yesterday arrested at least four people at the Anadolu News Agency office in Cairo on allegations of spreading false news and operating without a license, according to a report by the agency and other news reports.

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Sudanese protesters wait at a railway station in Khartoum on December 19, 2019 ahead of celebrations of the one-year anniversary of a protest movement that ousted the president. The transitional government in January suspended four news outlets over alleged links to the previous regime. (AFP/Ashraf Shazly)

Sudan suspends four news outlets over alleged financial link to Bashir regime

New York, January 13, 2020—Sudanese authorities should end their suspension of the newspapers El Ray El Aam and El Sudani and the TV channels Ashorooq and Teiba, and work toward institutionalizing press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Sudanese authorities suspended the four news outlets as part of a wider effort to seize…

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Iraqi demonstrators gather in Basra on January 10. Gunmen killed two journalists from the Iraqi broadcaster Dijlah TV, who were covering the protests. (Reuters/Essam al-Sudani)

Gunmen open fire on car, kill 2 Dijlah TV journalists at Iraq protest

Beirut, January 10, 2020—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the killing of two journalists working for the Iraqi broadcaster Dijlah TV, and urged Iraqi authorities to immediately open an investigation and hold those responsible to account.

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Abu Dhabi International Airport is seen on July 4, 2017. Serbian journalist Stevan Dojčinović was recently denied entry to the United Arab Emirates. (AP/Jon Gambrell)

Serbian journalist denied entry to United Arab Emirates

On December 17, 2019, authorities at Abu Dhabi International Airport denied entry to Stevan Dojčinović, a Serbian national and editor of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an investigative news outlet, according to Dojčinović, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, and news reports.

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Iraqis gather in Basra, Iraq, during a funeral procession on January 7, 2020, for militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike at Baghdad airport. (Reuters/Essam al-Sudani)

CPJ Safety Advisory: Iraq Safety Advisory

In wake of the January 3, 2020, U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, pro-Iranian militias have warned that “all retaliation options are on the table,” as reported by The Independent. According to CPJ research, pro-Iran militias, including those known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), have…

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A picture of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is seen in Istanbul on October 2, 2019. A Saudi court recently sentenced eight individuals in an opaque process for their alleged involvement in the killing. (AP/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Saudi court sentences 8 for Jamal Khashoggi killing

New York, December 23, 2019 — The Saudi public prosecutor’s office announced today that a court had sentenced five people to death and three to jail terms for their roles in the October 2018 killing of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to…

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Algerian security forces are seen in Algiers on December 4, 2019. Authorities recently sentenced cartoonist Benabdelhamid Amine to three months in prison. (AP/Toufik Doudou)

Algeria sentences cartoonist Benabdelhamid Amine to 3 months in prison

Washington, D.C., December 19, 2019 — A court in Oran, in northwest Algeria, sentenced cartoonist Benabdelhamid Amine to one year in prison on December 11 after finding him guilty of insulting the president, “violating territorial integrity,” and “disseminating publications harmful to national security,” according to news reports. The Djamal City Criminal Court suspended nine months…

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A fishmonger pictured at a bazaar in the Iranian city of Rasht, in March 2011. In 2018, Turkey extradited a journalist from Rasht whom authorities later sentenced to 10 years in prison for his work. (AFP/Behrouz Mehri)

Journalist extradited from Turkey and sentenced to 10 years in Iran

Turkish intelligence agents arrested Arash Shoa-Shargh, an Iranian journalist living in exile in Turkey, on January 5, 2018, in Van, a city near Iran’s border, a friend of the journalist, who asked not to be named to protect their safety, told CPJ on December 16, 2019.

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Members of the Libyan internationally recognized pro-government forces are seen near Tripoli on April 10, 2019. Journalist Rida Fahil Al-Bom was recently detained in Libya. (Reuters/Hani Amara)

Journalist Rida Fahil Al-Bom detained in Libya

Washington, D.C., December 17, 2019 — Libyan authorities should immediately account for the whereabouts of journalist and press freedom advocate Rida Fahil al-Bom and do their utmost to secure his release, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Flowers cover the coffin of Mexican journalist Jorge Celestino Ruiz Vazquez, who was killed in Veracruz in August. Ruiz is one of at least five journalists murdered in retaliation for their work in Mexico in 2019. (Reuters/Oscar Martinez)

Number of journalists killed falls sharply as reprisal murders hit record low

As wars subsided and a record low number of journalists were murdered in reprisal for reporting, the total number of journalists killed because of their work fell sharply in 2019. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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