Middle East & North Africa

On September 12, 2019, Lebanese judge Ziad Abu Haidar filed a criminal defamation suit against the Nida al-Watan newspaper as well as its editor-in-chief Beshara Charbel and managing director George Barbari, according to news reports and a report by regional press freedom group Skeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom.

Washington, D.C., September 30, 2019 — Egyptian authorities should immediately release journalists Alaa Abdelfattah, Nasser Abdelhafez, Engi Abdel Wahab, and all others who have been imprisoned for their reporting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Washington, D.C., September 27, 2019 — Algerian authorities should immediately release journalist Sofiane Merakchi and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Washington, D.C., September 23, 2019 — Egyptian authorities must release any journalists arrested covering protests and stop restricting access to news and social media websites, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Moroccan security forces arrested Hajar Raissouni, a reporter for independent news website Akhbar al-Youm, on August 31, 2019, as she was leaving her doctor’s office with her fiancé in Rabat, according to her employer and Huffington Post Maghreb. Akhbar al-Youm reported that plainclothes agents also arrested her fiancé, the doctor, and two medical staff from…

Beirut, September 12, 2019 — The militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham should immediately release Syrian reporter Ahmed Rahal and stop detaining journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Washington, D.C., September 10, 2019 — Egyptian authorities must immediately release Omar Shandi and stop harassing the families of critical journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Beirut, September 10, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned Iraqi Kurdistan authorities’ detention and deportation of Spanish freelance journalist Ferran Barber and urged the authorities to allow local and foreign journalists to do their jobs freely.

On August 21, 2019, in Topzawa, Iraqi Kurdistan, Asayish security forces affiliated with the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) arrested Roj News journalist Bryar Muhamad Mustafa, according to a report by his employer and a statement by the Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy, a local press freedom group.

Repressive governments use sophisticated digital censorship and surveillance alongside more traditional methods to silence independent media. A special report by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Published September 10, 2019 Eritrea is the world’s most censored country, according to a list compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists. The list is based on CPJ’s research into the…