Middle East & North Africa

  

Kuwait Government suspends newspaper for publishing Islamist critique

Your Highness: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about Sunday’s decision by the Council of Ministers to suspend the daily Al-Siyassafor a period of five days. Al-Siyassabegan serving its suspension on Monday. The decision came in response to Al-Siyassa’sOctober 16 front-page story quoting Hamed al-Ali, a local Islamist figure who is secretary general of the Salafiyya Movement (haraka salafiyya).

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Israeli authorities ban Palestinian from reporting in their territory

Dear Gen. Orr: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to express concern about the case of Kawthar Salam, a veteran reporter for the Palestinian daily Al-Hayat al-Jadeeda,who has apparently been denied permission to work in Israeli-controlled territories.

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Jordanian press freedom still limited, despite legal reforms

Your Majesty: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) would like to extend a warm welcome to you on the occasion of your visit to the United States. CPJ supports Your Majesty’s efforts to initiate reform of the 1998 Press and Publications Law (PPL). As you are well aware, the 1998 PPL imposed sweeping restrictions on the press. As a result it became the subject of vigorous local and international protests. Parliament amended some of the more restrictive articles of that law in September. This is a welcome development which we hope will bolster freedom of the press in Jordan and lead to bolder reforms of Jordanian laws that inhibit free expression.

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Alan Finkel Indicted in Istanbul

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns in the strongest terms today’s indictment of Andrew Finkel, a free-lance journalist based in Istanbul who reports for Time magazine and the Times of London and appears on CNN. In a hearing today, Finkel, a British national, was charged with “insulting state institutions” under Article 159 of the Turkish Penal Code. The charge comes in response to a February 1998 article Finkel wrote for the daily Sabah titled “Shurnak 1998,” which discussed Turkey’s ongoing military operations against the Kurds in the southeast. An expert panel’s report, submitted to the court, concluded that Finkel did not insult the military. Another hearing has been scheduled for November 16, pending the report of a second panel of experts on the validity of the charges. If convicted, Finkel faces up to six years in prison.

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Kuwait: Academic jailed for campus magazine article on Prophet Mohammad

Your Highness, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a non-governmental organization of journalists devoted to upholding press freedom worldwide, is writing to protest in the strongest terms the conviction and imprisonment of Dr. Ahmad Baghdadi, head of the political science department at Kuwait University and a regular contributor to the daily newspaper Al-Siyassa.

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Fear and Loathing in Tunis

Over more than a decade in power, Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has squeezed the life out of the country’s press. After years of harassment and intimidation, most journalists have learned to censor themselves on sensitive political issues.

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The Human Bars of an Invisible Prison

Right after the police raided my house, on May 24, 1999, they seemed to vanish from the neighborhood. You didn’t see them in Street 7134, and they stopped hanging out in the local café. But this proved to be a short respite—the calm before the storm. In mid-June, just as I was sighing with relief…

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Nadire Mater charged with “insulting the Turkish military”

Click here to read Nadire Mater’s personal statement Last week, Nadire Mater, a reporter with Inter Press Service (IPS), learned that she had been formally charged with “insulting” the Turkish military-a crime under Article 159 of the Turkish Penal Code. If convicted, she faces between one and six years in prison. The charge stems from…

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Iran: Banned newspaper’s editor convicted of “insulting Islam”

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a nonpartisan organization of journalists dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, is writing to protest the conviction handed down yesterday against Latin Safari, director of the banned daily newspaper Neshat.

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Iran: Banned newspaper’s editor convicted of “insulting Islam”

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a nonpartisan organization of journalists dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, is writing to protest the conviction handed down yesterday against Latin Safari, director of the banned daily newspaper Neshat.

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