Egypt

Egyptian authorities have sentenced three Al Jazeera reporters to lengthy prison terms based on ungrounded and extraordinary claims, the International Press Institute (IPI) said Monday. Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy, and Baher Mohamed, reporters for Al Jazeera English, were sentenced Monday on charges they were conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood to broadcast false reports of civil strife in...

Egyptian authorities should not allow a widely criticised trial against three Al Jazeera journalists to do any more harm and should drop all charges immediately, the International Press Institute (IPI) said Sunday. Peter Greste, an Australian who works for Al Jazeera English, and his colleagues Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed are due to appear in court Monday morning, where observers fear they...

The International Press Institute (IPI) Thursday strongly condemned the continued detention of journalist Abdullah Elshamy by Egyptian authorities and called for the immediate release of all journalists being held in prison because of their work. According to media reports, Elshamy, a journalist for Al Jazeera’s Arabic channel who has been detained since August 14 without charge, was told in...

The International federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins with Australian affiliate the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) in condemning the call by Egyptian prosecutors for the maximum jail sentence to be delivered against Al Jazeera journalists currently on trial in Cairo. The IFJ has called the trial process a vicious attack on press freedom and calls on all of its Asia-Pacific...

Egypt’s new president should hit the reset button on press freedom by immediately dropping charges against 16 journalists accused of sedition, the International Press Institute (IPI) said Monday. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the military commander who helped engineer last year’s putsch against a democratically elected government, faces only token opposition in this week’s election and seems...

Egyptian authorities should immediately release an Al Jazeera correspondent who has been held without charge since August 14, 2013. The correspondent, Abdullah al-Shami, has been on a hunger strike for more than 100 days. On May 12, 2014, the authorities transferred al-Shami from Tora Prison, just south of Cairo, to an undisclosed location, amid rising concerns that his health is deteriorating. On...

Two Egyptian journalists were shot by live ammunition on Monday while covering clashes in Cairo between security forces and university students supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to news reports. At least one student was killed in the clashes, news reports said. Amr Abdel-Fattah, photographer for the independent TV channel Sada El-Balad, was shot in the back and underwent surgery at a...

Two journalists were arrested in Egypt on Wednesday and new charges filed against three others, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the Egyptian government's renewed crackdown on the press as presidential elections approach in May. "If the Egyptian government is serious about organizing free and fair presidential elections, it must end this campaign...

An Egyptian journalist was shot dead in Cairo on Friday while covering deadly clashes, according to news reports. Mayada Ashraf was a reporter for the daily Al-Dustour. She had covered previous protests for the paper, the reports said. The clashes stemmed from nationwide demonstrations by Muslim Brotherhood members who were protesting Army Chief Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi's announcement on Wednesday...

The Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has decried security forces’ mounting prosecution of anti-government journalists in Egypt, as well as harassing them for the purpose of muzzling voices of dissent. On March 17, security forces apprehended Mohamed Madni, Misr 25 channel correspondent in Alexandria. Prior to his arrest, security forces had invaded his house, and then took him...