Al-Jazeera

Egyptian court upholds Al-Jazeera conviction; strikes down prison sentence Cairo, February 11, 2008—An appeals court in Cairo today upheld the conviction of an Al-Jazeera journalist charged with harming Egypt’s reputation for her work on a documentary about torture, but struck down her prison term. In a crowded courtroom in north Cairo, Judge Hazem Wageeh read…

Egyptian court upholds Al-Jazeera conviction; strikes down prison sentence Cairo, February 11, 2008—An appeals court in Cairo today upheld the conviction of an Al-Jazeera journalist charged with harming Egypt’s reputation for her work on a documentary about torture, but struck down her prison term. In a crowded courtroom in north Cairo, Judge Hazem Wageeh read…

Under the Radar, a New Kind of RepressionBy Joel Campagna On a Wednesday afternoon last June, Yemeni security agents stormed the home of outspoken editor Abdel Karim al-Khaiwani and dragged him before a State Security Court in the capital, Sana’a. A prosecutor questioned al-Khaiwani and later rang him up on charges of belonging to a secret…

AFGHANISTAN Six years after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, journalists were increasingly pessimistic about the future. The personal tragedies of several Afghan journalists illustrated how much the press situation had worsened amid political disarray, faltering security, and human rights abuses. Despite the adversity, domestic news media remained plentiful and assertive.

EGYPT The government clamped down on political opposition, tried to suppress speculation about the health of President Hosni Mubarak, and waged a steady offensive against critical journalists, bloggers, and foreign media workers. By year’s end, a full-fledged crackdown was under way, with Egyptian courts aggressively prosecuting several of the country’s leading independent editors and writers.…

IRAQ The war in Iraq, the deadliest conflict for journalists in recent history, kept the country at the top of the world’s most dangerous places for the press. Thirty-two journalists and 12 media support staffers were killed during the year, bringing the record toll to 174 media personnel killed in the line of duty since…

ISRAEL and the Occupied Palestinian Territory A bitter power struggle between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah left journalists vulnerable to harassment and attack, with the slayings of two local media workers and the abduction of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston underscoring the risk. Journalists covering Israeli military operations in the West Bank and Gaza also…

AlgeriaBahrainJordanKuwaitLibyaMauritaniaSudan Syria ALGERIA • Authorities arrested Kamel Bousaad, editor of the pro-Islamist weekly Errissala, on February 8 and Berkane Bouderbala, managing editor of the weekly Essafir, on February 11, after their newspapers published controversial Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. The editors faced charges under Article 144 of the penal code for insulting the Prophet…

Attacks had become so pervasive in this conflict-riven state that the National Union of Somali Journalists described 2006 as “the most dangerous year for press freedom for more than a decade.” Then came 2007–a year in which conditions grew dramatically worse. With seven journalists killed in direct relation to their work, Somalia was the deadliest…

SUDAN Despite free speech protections built into Sudan’s 2005 interim constitution, authorities operated as if a state of emergency were still in force. Newspaper suspensions, criminal charges, and detentions were a routine part of working as a journalist in Sudan. When trying to cover one of the world’s biggest stories—the genocide in Darfur—reporters faced high…