Yemen / Middle East & North Africa

  
Demonstrators demand the release of documentary filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen, jailed in China after interviewing Tibetans. (AFP)

CPJ’s 2009 prison census: Freelance journalists under fire

New York, December 8, 2009—Freelancers now make up nearly 45 percent of all journalists jailed worldwide, a dramatic recent increase that reflects the evolution of the global news business, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In its annual census of imprisoned journalists, CPJ found a total of 136 reporters, editors, and photojournalists behind bars…

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New Yemeni press court sentences, bans journalists

New York, November 2, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to end the intensifying judicial and media campaign to silence critical journalists and eradicate press freedom.

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Tawakul Karman, chairwoman of Women Journalists Without Chains. (Oliver Holmes)

Just off Freedom Square in Yemen

Swathed in the traditional black face veil, or niqab, Yemeni women brandish banners with images of disappeared and imprisoned journalists. Every Tuesday, in Yemen’s capital city of Sana’a, Tawakul Karman, chairwoman of Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC), leads these women into Freedom Square to demonstrate.

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Middle East Bloggers: The Street Leads Online

In the Middle East and North Africa, where political change occurs slowly, blogging has becomes a serious medium for social and political commentary as well as a target of government suppression. By Mohamed Abdel Dayem                        

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In Yemen, critical journalist disappears

New York, September 25, 2009—The Committee to Protect journalists calls on Yemeni authorities to clarify the circumstances of the disappearance and current whereabouts of Muhammad al-Maqaleh, editor of Aleshteraki, a Web site affiliated with the opposition Socialist Party. Al-Maqaleh was detained by unidentified men on September 18 in Sana’a, according to local news reports. 

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Al-Jazeera bureau chief threatened in Yemen

New York, July 27, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the safety of Al-Jazeera staff in Yemen after an unknown caller threatened to kill the satellite broadcaster’s bureau chief on Sunday. 

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In Yemen, journalist sentenced to 14 months in jail

New York, July 16, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Yemeni court of appeals to overturn a jail sentence it handed down on Wednesday against journalist Anis Mansour from the suspended independent daily Al-Ayyam. 

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Months-long assault on media continues in Yemen

New York, June 24, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the government of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to end censorship of independent newspapers and to identify and prosecute those who assaulted Al-Jazeera journalists on two occasions in the south of the country. 

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CPJ appeals to Yemen to end crackdown on media

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists writes to express its concern about your government’s recent crackdown on media outlets that have covered civil unrest in the southern part of Yemen.

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Yemeni security forces fire on newspaper offices

New York, May 13, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns a raid today by Yemeni security forces on the Aden compound of the country’s most popular independent newspaper. One passerby was killed. 

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