Middle East & North Africa

Beirut, February 28, 2020 — Israeli authorities should release Palestinian journalist Mujahed Muflih and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On February 22, 2020, intelligence agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) arrested and interrogated freelance economic reporter Mohammad Mosaed for several hours over recent social media posts critical of the government and suspended his social media accounts, according to a brief interview he had with the BBC Persian Service a few hours after…

Beirut, February 26, 2020 — Russian and Syrian military forces must ensure the safety of journalists and other civilians and hold those responsible for journalists’ deaths to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

In the evening of February 12, 2020, three unidentified individuals assaulted Mohammed Zbib, a reporter for the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, in the Beirut neighborhood of Hamra, according to news reports and a report by the journalist’s employer.

Elections are always problematic for journalists in Iran, as the government attempts to threaten the press into silence. The parliamentary elections on February 21 are no exception.

Beirut, February 12, 2020 — Iraqi authorities should conduct a swift and transparent investigation into the killing of Al-Rasheed TV chief executive officer Nizar Thanoun and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

Washington, D.C., February 5, 2020 — Iranian authorities should cease raiding journalists’ homes and should return all material confiscated in recent raids, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Five Syrian journalists embedded with forces supporting President Bashar al-Assad were injured in two incidents, on January 29 and February 2, 2020, in the northwestern Syrian governorates of Idlib and Aleppo, according to news reports and reports by their employers.

Washington, D.C., February 3, 2020 – Iranian authorities should immediately drop the false news and defamation charges against the editors of three news outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.