West Asia - North Africa

The US is still refusing to release Reuters photographer Ibrahim Jassam, who has begun his second year of detention by the US military in Iraq although he has never been formally charged. Jassam is currently the only journalist held in Iraq by the US forces. Jassam was arrested by US and Iraqi soldiers in the south Baghdad district of Mahmoudiyah on September 1, 2008. The Iraqi central criminal...

The Committee to Protect Journalists has deplored the conditions in which dozens of Iranian journalists are being held and is concerned about the health of many of them, particularly that of Ahmad Zaid-Abadi. The columnist, who worked for Rooz Online, a Farsi and English-language reformist news website, was arrested in mid-June after the contested presidential election. Mahdieh Mohammadi, Zaid...

Iraqi authorities prevented the news media from covering bombings in Baghdad and the southern province of Babil on last week, Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. “We wonder why the Iraqi authorities forbade journalists to approach the scenes of the bombings and interview victims,” RSF said. “Was it to reduce the broadcasting of shocking images? Was it to conceal successful terrorist...

Radio Bethlehem 2000, a radio station located near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, was shut down Tuesday evening by Israeli soldiers, who seized its equipment, Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. “The summary closure of an independent Palestinian radio station and the arbitrary seizure of its equipment constitute outright censorship,” RSF said. “The station’s management was given no...

The fourth session of the mass trial of more than 100 opposition figures, including journalists, took place in Tehran today. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed dismay at procedural irregularities and the fact that the trial is only open to state-owned media. In the aftermath of the country's disputed June 12 presidential election, Iranian authorities have expelled foreign...

The Hamas interior ministry has decided to deny Palestinian and foreign journalists access to the southern city of Rafah and to all hospitals in the Gaza Strip until further notice. The ban was issued on August 14, after fighting broke out in Rafah between the Hamas government and a radical Islamist group. "The Hamas-led government's interior ministry has again demonstrated a desire to control...

Pro-government journalists have ousted the board of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (NSTJ), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. The syndicate was the only independent organisation of its kind in Tunisia for critical journalists, providing them with syndication services among other benefits. In the latest in a long string of actions meant to eliminate critical...

Iranian newspaper Itmad e Milli, which is owned by defeated presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi, was banned from newsstands on Monday, the daily reported on its website. It was not clear how long the ban would be in place. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), government agents prevented copies of the paper from leaving the printing press apparently because of an article by...

Scores of Iraqi journalists and political figures rallied Friday to protest what they say is a political effort to censor media that follows steps to crack down on Internet sites, the Associated Press (AP) reported. The demonstration on a Baghdad street known for its book market was held under tight security, as anger builds over government initiatives that critics say are aimed at preventing a...

Photojournalist Majid Saeedi has been released on bail in Iran, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. Saeedi, a well-known freelance photographer who has worked for several newspapers and global photo agency Getty Images, was released on bail on Tuesday. Getty Images co-founder and CEO Jonathan Klein said that Saeedi "is set to face trial on the charges set by Iranian...