Middle East & North Africa

Beirut, June 5, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the attorney general in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to drop his recommendation that a court ban distribution of the pro-Fatah daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida.

New York, June 3, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemned the sentencing today of Masoud Kazemi, the editor-in-chief of the monthly Sedaye Parsi political magazine. Judge Mohammad Moghiseh of Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Branch 28 court found Kazemi guilty on national security charges of spreading misinformation and insulting the supreme leader and…

New York, May 31, 2019–The Ansar Allah group, known as the Houthis, should immediately release all journalists in its custody and stop its campaign of detentions and intimidation against journalists working in areas under its control, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Washington, D.C., May 31, 2019–Sudan’s military rulers yesterday ordered the Khartoum bureau of Al-Jazeera to be shut down and banned its staff from working in the country, the Qatari-broadcaster said today. Forces yesterday raided the outlet without providing a reason and confiscated work permits for staff and broadcasting equipment, Hassan Saeed Elmogummer Taha, an Al-Jazeera…

Beirut, May 29, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Syrian authorities to respect the civilian status of journalists covering airstrikes and clashes in the northwestern part of the country.

Washington, D.C., May 22, 2019 – Iranian authorities should release journalist Masoud Kazemi and clarify or drop the charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Earlier today, Kazemi, editor-in-chief of the monthly Sedaye Parsi political magazine, arrived at the Tehran Revolutionary Guard Corps Branch 28 court to stand trial on anti-state propaganda…

In a Q&A with CPJ, British war photographer Paul Conroy discusses his last assignment with Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin in Syria, in 2012, and the dangers for photojournalists, especially when covering conflict.

On May 8, 2019, Lebanese state security forces raided the office of the independent Beirut-based daily newspaper Al-Akhbar, according to news reports, the regional press freedom group Skeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom, and a report by Al-Akhbar Deputy Editor Pierre Abi Saab.

On May 12, 2019, Hani Amara, a photographer and videographer for Reuters, was shot in the leg while covering clashes in the Libyan capital Tripoli, according to news reports, social media posts and the Libyan Center for Freedom of the Press, a local press freedom group.

On April 25, 2019, Tunisian police raided the studios of privately owned television broadcaster Nessma TV and confiscated its broadcasting equipment following a ruling by the High Independent Authority of Audiovisual Communication, the country’s media regulator, stating that the broadcaster did not have proper legal status, according to Reuters and local news reports.