Middle East & North Africa

Nazareth, Israel, July 10, 2025—Police arrested and detained journalist and activist Israel Frey on Wednesday, July 9, in Tel Aviv after the State Attorney’s office opened a criminal investigation on Tuesday on accusations of inciting terrorism based on a social media post on X. A Tel Aviv court on Thursday extended Frey’s detention by three…

New York, July 18, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 36 other press freedom and human rights organizations in a statement condemning Tunisia’s ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression and calling for the immediate release of imprisoned commentator Sonia Dahmani, who is serving multiple prison sentences under a repressive cybercrime Decree-Law 54 for her media…

Nazareth, Israel, July 9, 2025—Israel’s 12-day war with Iran provided Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government with an opportunity to step up its assault on the press — a trend that has since continued apace. “Media freedom is often a casualty of war, and Israel’s recent war with Iran is no exception. We have seen Israeli…

Paris, July 9, 2025—Hackers linked with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) infiltrated the Telegram accounts of current and former staff of the outlet Iran International in a targeted campaign to intimidate and silence journalists, the London-based broadcaster reported Tuesday. The breaches were linked to two coordinated attacks – one in the summer of 2024…

New York, July 9, 2025—CPJ urges Tunisian authorities to cease the prosecution of family members of journalists advocating for their release after a Tunis court on July 1 sentenced in absentia Ramla Dahmani, the sister of imprisoned lawyer and political commentator Sonia Dahmani, to two years in prison on false news charges.  “Tunisian authorities are…

New York, July 8, 2025—Members of the Sudan Liberation Movement–Transitional Council (SLM–TC), an armed group affiliated with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), arrested freelance journalists Nasr Yaqoub and Mohamed Ahmed Nazar on Monday, July 7, from a shop in Abu Shouk Camp market in El-Fasher, North Darfur.  Yaqoub and Nazar were released on July 9,…

After almost 14 years of civil war, the lightning overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in December has unleashed the possibility of returning home for hundreds of exiled journalists. For Ahmad Primo, who was arrested by the government for reporting that the 2011 protests were a revolution and then jailed by Islamic State, the idea…

Washington, D.C., July 3, 2025— The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the June 18 arrest of journalist Muzahim Bajaber in central Yemen’s Hadramout Governorate on unspecified charges.  The warrant, reviewed by CPJ, was issued by a Specialized Criminal Court and violates Article 13 of Yemen’s Press and Publications Law, which protects journalists from punishment for publishing their opinions unless they…

Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, July 2, 2025—Iraqi authorities must immediately end their unexplained shutdown and suspension of the privately owned Iraq AlHadath news broadcaster in Baghdad and ensure that media outlets can operate freely and independently, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.  “The shutdown of Iraq AlHadath without transparent justification represents a troubling move against press freedom in…

New York, July 2, 2025—The dead have been buried and most journalists detained during Iran’s 12-day war with Israel have been freed, but the media are still reeling, as authorities crack down on critical voices and disrupt internet access. The state news agency has announced a “season of traitor-killing,” with hundreds of people arrested and…