Middle East & North Africa

  

Iran: Two more newspapers closed

New York, September 17, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent decision by Tehran’s Press Court to suspend two more newspapers. The latest ruling brings to 54 the total number of publications suspended since a crackdown began in April 2000. According to a CPJ source in Iran, on Sunday, September 15, the Press…

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9-11: Looking Back, Looking Forward

In the months following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, journalists around the world confronted an unprecedented press freedom crisis.

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CPJ calls for release of three detained journalists

Dear Prime Minister: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to reiterate its deep concern about the ongoing detention of at least three journalists in Israel and the West Bank. Hossam Abu Alan, a veteran photographer for Agence France-Presse; Youssry al-Jamal, a soundman for Reuters news agency; and Kamel Jbeil, a reporter for the Palestinian daily Al-Quds, were detained by Israeli troops in April and remain under administrative detention without charge.

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CPJ mourns death of cameraman

New York, September 9, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) mourns the death of our colleague Larry Greene, a 24-year veteran cameraman for the Los Angeles­based television station KCBS. Greene died Friday, September 6, when a Navy helicopter crashed over the Persian Gulf. According to several news reports, the helicopter, which carried Greene and four…

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Broadcast stations shut down

New York, September 5, 2002—Lebanese security officers yesterday raided the private Lebanese television station Murr TV (MTV) and Mount Lebanon Radio Station, roughed up employees, and forcibly shut down the stations. One MTV employee told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that the Internal Security Forces did not present a judicial order and that they…

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CPJ protests detention of journalist

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to protest the detention of Sudanese journalist Osman Merghani, a columnist for the Khartoum-based daily Al-Rai Al-Aam newspaper.

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Journalist syndicate proposes restrictions on photographers

New York, August 27, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) protests yesterday’s statement by the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, a professional press association based in the Gaza Strip, barring Palestinian and foreign journalists from photographing images of Palestinian children wearing military uniforms or carrying weapons. It is unclear how this ban will be enforced and whether…

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CPJ protests journalist’s prison sentence

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to protest the eight-month prison sentence handed down today against Tunisian journalist Abdullah Zouari, formerly with the banned Islamist weekly Al-Fajr.

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New York, August 12, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed that an Israeli reporter and his photographer came under Israel Defense Forces (IDF) gunfire yesterday in the West Bank town of Tulkarem. On August 11, Gideon Levy, of the Israeli daily Ha’aretz, his photographer, Miki Kratsman, their driver, and a representative from an…

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Iran: More newspapers closed

New York, August 9, 2002-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns yesterday’s court–ordered closure of two Iranian newspapers. This latest ruling brings to 52 the total number of publications that authorities have banned in Iran since April 2000. Tehran’s conservative Press Court yesterday banned the newly launched daily Ayineh-e-Jonoub (formerly a weekly), citing more than…

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