Iranian economic reporter begins 5-year prison sentence after lengthy pre-trial detention
Washington, D.C., May 9, 2024—Iranian authorities should immediately release economic journalist Shirin Saeedi from prison, drop all charges against her, and cease jailing members of the press for doing their jobs, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday. Saeedi entered pre-trial detention on December 23, 2023, on charges of “colluding and assembling against the national…
Palestinian journalist Rula Hassanein charged with incitement for social media posts
New York, May 8, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday urged Israeli authorities to release Palestinian freelance journalist Rula Hassanein on humanitarian grounds as her health and that of her infant daughter had deteriorated since Hassanein’s March arrest over her social media posts. On March 19, Israeli military forces arrested Hassanein, who…
CPJ calls for immediate release of Sudanese photographer Abdelaziz Mahmoud Arja
New York, May 8, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Sudanese paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to immediately and unconditionally release Abdelaziz Mahmoud Arja, a photographer with state-owned Sudan TV. “We are deeply concerned by the Rapid Support Forces soldiers’ arrest of state television photographer Abdelaziz Mahmoud Arja and urge…
Jordanian authorities shut down Al-Yarmouk TV station
Beirut, May 8, 2024 — After the Al-Yarmouk TV channel was raided on Tuesday night, the Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday called on Jordanian authorities to ensure the outlet can reopen and work freely without fear of reprisal. On May 7, 2024, Jordanian security forces stormed the Al-Yarmouk offices in the capital, Amman, confiscated…
Why impact of Israel-Gaza war has become harder to document
Israel’s surprise attack on Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza on March 18, and the two weeks of fighting that followed, resulted in hundreds of deaths and a trail of destruction. It also left a morass of contradictory information about exactly who was killed there, who was arrested, and who went missing. As the Israel-Gaza war…
CPJ calls for investigation into Israeli shooting at 2 Al-Araby TV journalists in West Bank
Beirut, May 6, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is extremely concerned by reports of Israeli forces shooting at an Al-Araby TV crew on Saturday and calls for an immediate and transparent investigation into whether the journalists were targeted. Israeli forces fired at Ameed Shehade, a reporter with Qatari-funded broadcaster Al-Araby TV, and camera…
CPJ condemns Israeli vote to shut down Al Jazeera; warns of alarming precedent
Beirut, May 5, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Israeli cabinet’s decision to shut down Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel and warns that the vote could set a dangerous precedent for other international media outlets working in Israel. The cabinet vote on Sunday, announced by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on X, came after Israel’s…
Iranian economics reporter begins 5-month sentence in Karaj prison
Washington, D.C., April 30, 2024—Iranian authorities must immediately release journalist Parisa Salehi from prison and cease jailing members of the press for doing their jobs by reporting on events of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On January 24, Judge Asef Al-Hosseini, in Branch one of Karaj Revolutionary Court, sentenced Parisa Salehi, an economics reporter for the state-run financial…
Iraqi Kurdish journalist Guhdar Zebari is free from prison, but not from threats
On February 17, 2024, Iraqi Kurdish journalist Guhdar Zebari was released from prison, concluding a three-and-a-half year legal saga that saw him convicted on anti-state and other charges in retaliation for his work. Zebari is one of the so-called “Badinan prisoners” – a group of journalists and activists from the ethnic Badinani group who were…
CPJ, MENA Rights Group file Urgent Action to UN on disappearance of Syrian journalist in Iraqi Kurdistan
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the MENA Rights Group (MRG), filed an Urgent Action on April 12, 2024, to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, asking for the Iraqi Kurdish government to clarify the fate and whereabouts of Syrian journalist Sleman Ahmed, who was arrested in Iraqi Kurdistan on October 25, 2023. Ahmed,…