Ten years after the Arab Spring, the region’s media faces grave threats. Here are the top press freedom trends
In early February 2011, Alaa Abdelfattah was in Egypt’s Tahrir Square, documenting and participating in the nascent pro-democracy uprising that would topple the government and transform the country and the region. Today, he is in prison on anti-state and false news charges, which his family believes are partly retaliatory for his work. Abdelfattah is one of…
Bertha Foundation: Omar Radi’s arrest blocked Moroccan land rights exposé
The 10th time journalist Omar Radi was summoned by Moroccan police this summer, he was arrested on multiple charges including undermining state security and sexual assault, as CPJ documented in July. He was placed in solitary confinement in the Oukacha Prison in Casablanca to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19, and remained there as…
Journalist Omar Radi arrested, charged in Morocco
New York, July 29, 2020 – Moroccan authorities must release journalist Omar Radi immediately and refrain from filing retaliatory charges against the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Today, the National Brigade of Judicial Police summoned Radi, a reporter at the independent Le Desk news website, and then transferred him to the Casablanca…
Journalists Omar Radi and Imad Stitou detained overnight in Morocco
On July 5, 2020, police in Casablanca arrested Omar Radi and Imad Stitou, investigative journalists at the Moroccan Le Desk news website, for alleged “public intoxication and violence,” and detained them overnight, according to Le Desk and news reports. The journalists were held in police custody and then released on July 6 pending an investigation…
CPJ calls on Moroccan authorities to stop harassing Omar Radi
New York, July 2, 2020–Moroccan authorities must immediately stop harassing Omar Radi, investigative journalist at the news website Le Desk, and allow him to work and travel freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, the National Brigade of Judicial Police in Casablanca summoned Radi to appear today in connection to an investigation into…
Moroccan independent journalists describe climate of pervasive surveillance, harassment
In March 2015, Hicham Mansouri emailed an anti-malware company, suspicious of possible signs that someone was able to access his device remotely, without permission. He remembers exchanging a few messages with the software company, but the correspondence was interrupted after a few days, when around 10 police officers in civilian clothes arrived at his home…