Middle East & North Africa

On April 25, 2019, Tunisian police raided the studios of privately owned television broadcaster Nessma TV and confiscated its broadcasting equipment following a ruling by the High Independent Authority of Audiovisual Communication, the country’s media regulator, stating that the broadcaster did not have proper legal status, according to Reuters and local news reports.

Washington, D.C., May 14, 2019 — Iranian authorities should immediately lift the suspension of Seda magazine and stop harassing critical media outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, May 9, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned about the safety of Mohamed al-Qurj and Mohamed al-Shibani, Libyan journalists with Qatar-based private television broadcaster Libya Alahrar, who disappeared on May 2.

Beirut, May 9, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the Israeli bombing of Turkish-stated owned news outlet Anadolu Agency’s Gaza office on May 4.

Magdy Shandi, editor-in-chief of the Cairo-based independent newspaper al-Mashhad, planned to send 30 journalists to report from polling stations while votes were being cast in Egypt’s constitutional referendum between April 20 and April 22. He ended up ordering them to stay away, he told CPJ in a telephone interview in May. The state’s media regulator…

Washington, D.C., May 6, 2019 — Iranian authorities should immediately release Kayvan Samimi, editor-in-chief of Iran-e-Farda magazine, and Marzieh Amiri, economics reporter at Tehran-based newspaper Shargh Daily, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Washington, D.C., May 3, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Iranian authorities to release Mohammad Reza Nassab Abdollahi, editor-in-chief of Iranian news websites Anar Press and Aban Press.

On April 19, 2019, at least four Palestinian journalists covering protests in the Gaza Strip were injured by rubber bullets and tear gas canisters fired by Israeli soldiers, according to local press freedom organizations and social media posts by the journalists and their colleagues.

New York, April 25, 2019 — Saudi authorities should immediately release Jordanian journalist Abdulrahman Farhana as well as the other journalists swept up in their campaign against dissent, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, April 18, 2019 — Saudi authorities must immediately stop persecuting journalists and release those swept up in their recent detention campaign, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.