Tunisian court evicts weekly from office
New York, October 2, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed by a Tunisian court decision to evict the weekly Al-Mawkif from premises it has been using in downtown Tunis since 1994. On Monday, a misdemeanor court in Tunis ordered the eviction of Al-Mawkif, published since 1984 by the opposition Progressive Democratic Party (PDP),…
Tunisian Internet editor to stand trial
New York, August 1, 2007— The managing editor of a Tunisian online magazine is due to appear in court in Tunis on August 2 on charges of defamation that could lead to his imprisonment for up to three-and-a-half years, according to one of his lawyers. The charges against Tunisian rights activist Omar Mestiri stem from…
In Tunisia, an Internet writer is freed after 28 months
New York, July 25, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from prison on Tuesday of a Tunisian human rights lawyer who had been jailed nearly 28 months because of online articles he wrote criticizing the Tunisian government. Mohammed Abbou and more than 20 other political prisoners were freed by order of President Zine…
The Moroccan Facade
Ahmed Reda Benchemsi, the 33-year-old publisher of the independent Moroccan weekly TelQuel, sensed someone was trying to send him a message. In a matter of months, two judges had ordered him to pay extraordinarily high damages in a pair of otherwise unremarkable defamation lawsuits.
Backsliders: The 10 countries where press freedom has most deteriorated
New York, May 2, 2007–Three nations in sub-Saharan Africa are among the places worldwide where press freedom has deteriorated the most over the last five years, a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found. Ethiopia, where the government launched a massive crackdown on the private press by shutting newspapers and jailing editors,…
Tunisian authorities repeatedly harass prominent journalist
New York, April 9, 2007—A prominent Tunisian correspondent and press freedom advocate was physically prevented from attending and covering a ceremony, the latest in a series of harassing incidents over the last three years. On Friday evening, Lotfi Hajji, head of the Tunisian Journalists Syndicate (SJT), was prevented from attending and covering a reception at…
Tunisian Internet writer still jailed after two years
New York, February 28, 2007—The Committee to Protect to Journalists today called on Tunisia to free an Internet writer jailed two years ago for Web articles that criticized President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and described torture in Tunisian prisons. Secret police in Tunis arrested Mohamed Abbou, a human rights lawyer and contributor to the…
In Tunisia, police arrest TV journalist
New York, February 8, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by the overnight arrest of an opposition television station director by Tunisian police in the capital Tunis. Tahar Ben Hassine, director of Italy-based satellite channel Al-Hiwar Tunisi, was detained by Tunisian police in the Al-Manar neighborhood after leaving Tunisian dissident journalist Taoufik Ben Brik’s…
Attacks on the Press 2006: Countries That Have Jailed Journalists
ALGERIA: 2 Djamel Eddine Fahassi, Alger Chaîne III IMPRISONED: May 6, 1995 Fahassi, a reporter for the state-run radio station Alger Chaîne III and a contributor to several Algerian newspapers, including the now-banned weekly of the Islamic Salvation Front, Al-Forqane, was abducted near his home in the al-Harrache suburb of the capital, Algiers, by four…
Attacks on the Press 2006: Middle East Analysis
As democracy falters, Arab press still pushes for freedom By Joel Campagna Across the Middle East, political reform gained momentum in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Egyptians and Lebanese clamored for democracy; elections in Iraq, Palestine, Yemen, and Saudi…