Egypt / Middle East & North Africa

  

One journalist released, Al-Jazeera trial begins in Egypt

New York, March 4, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from jail of one reporter in Egypt and calls on authorities to release all other journalists held behind bars. While the release of a second journalist is pending, a trial begins on Wednesday for three imprisoned journalists affiliated with the Qatari-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera,…

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Egypt should #FreeAJStaff and other jailed journalists

Today, on Al-Jazeera’s Global Day of Action, the Qatari-based broadcaster is urging Egyptian authorities to release its journalists who have been held behind bars for months. CPJ calls on the Egyptian government to release all of the journalists jailed in the country. At least nine journalists are currently imprisoned in Egypt, four of whom work…

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Would-Be Repressors Brandish ‘Ethics’ as Justification

Calls for journalists to exercise a sense of responsibility are very often code for censorship. Yet unethical journalism can also imperil the press. By Jean-Paul Marthoz

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CPJ Risk List

Surveillance, restrictive Internet legislation, and cyberattacks compel CPJ to add cyberspace to the list of places trending in the wrong direction. By Maya Taal

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Attacks on the Press in 2013: Egypt

The deeply polarized Egyptian press was battered by an array of repressive tactics throughout 2013, from the legal and physical intimidation during the tenure of former President Mohamed Morsi to the widespread censorship by the military-backed government that replaced him. Morsi and his supporters pushed through a repressive constitution, used politicized regulations, pursued retaliatory criminal…

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Press freedom deteriorates in Cyberspace, Egypt, Russia

Risk List underlines mass surveillance, fatalities, and censorship New York, February 6, 2014–Mass surveillance programs by the U.S. and U.K., as well as restrictive Internet legislation by various governments and a wave of cyberattacks globally, are among the disturbing developments that have landed cyberspace on the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Risk List, released today.

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Terror charges for Al-Jazeera in Egypt prompt outcry

Today, the Committee to Protect Journalists joined other leading international media freedom and human rights organizations, including Article 19, Index on Censorship, and Reporters Without Borders, in calling on the European Union and United States to demand Egyptian authorities drop charges against Al-Jazeera journalists and release those under arrest.

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Egypt to try Al-Jazeera journalists on terror charges

New York, January 29, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the Egyptian prosecutor general’s decision to put 20 Al-Jazeera journalists on trial on criminal charges of incitement, distorting the country’s image abroad, and fabricating news to aid the Muslim Brotherhood, which the government has declared a terrorist organization, according to government daily Al-Ahram and…

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Egyptians gather in Cairo to mark the third anniversary of the uprising. (AFP/Mohamed el-Shahed)

Anti-press abuses on third anniversary of Egypt uprising

New York, January 28, 2014–Several local and international journalists have been attacked and detained in Egypt while covering deadly clashes between police and supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, according to news reports. The clashes erupted on Saturday, the third anniversary of the uprising in Egypt.

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Egypt should release all imprisoned journalists

Dear President Mansour: As an international press freedom organization, we are writing to express our concern about the climate of press freedom in Egypt. We believe that all Egyptian citizens should be guaranteed the right to freedom of speech and freedom of information. Yet at least seven journalists are being held behind bars in the country today, unable to do their work in this critical time in Egypt’s history. We condemn the ongoing imprisonment of the journalists and urge the Egyptian government to immediately release them.

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