West Asia - North Africa

In response to a letter sent on Sunday by Iran's president urging the public prosecutor to ensure justice for Iranian-American ‎journalist Roxana Saberi, the Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called for Saberi to be released on bail pending her appeal. An Iranian Revolutionary Court found Saberi guilty of espionage and sentenced her to eight years in prison on Saturday in a closed, one...

An Iranian court convicted journalist Roxana Saberi of espionage and sentenced her to eight years in prison Saturday following a closed, one-day trial earlier in the week. Her lawyer said he will appeal. "Roxana Saberi's trial lacked transparency and we are concerned that she may not have been treated fairly," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator. "We...

The Iraqi military should drop a criminal lawsuit it filed Monday against a newspaper and a TV channel for misattributing a quote to its spokesman, the Committee to Protect Journalists has said. Iraqi and international press reported Monday that Major General Qassim Atta al-Moussawi, spokesman of the Baghdad Military Command Operations, has said that the military has initiated a lawsuit to shut...

Iranian-American freelancer, Roxana Saberi, who has been charged with espionage after being arrested in late January, appeared in court for the first time on Monday. Iranian judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi told a news conference in Tehran Tuesday that Saberi appeared before a Revolutionary Court for a closed, one-day trial, during which she presented a defence, Reuters and the Associated...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned the conditions in which journalists and cyber-dissidents are being held in Iran and the arbitrary nature of their detention, and has called for their release. The organisation issued its appeal after the US-based parents of a detained American-Iranian journalist were able to visit her in Tehran's Evin prison on April 6, 2009. "It is very good news that...

The Algerian government has decided to ban the distribution of the current issues of three French publications – L'Express, Marianne and Journal du Dimanche – on the eve of the April 9, 2009 election (where the President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is running for the third term), Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported.. "This censorship is disgraceful," Paris-based RSF said, expressing outrage at...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has written to the king of Bahrain to protest the recent deterioration of press freedom in the country and his government's ongoing campaign against critical or opposition websites and blogs. The crackdown against those sites has resulted in dozens of them being blocked inside the kingdom, according to local and international human rights and press...

Detained Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi has been with espionage by the Iranian government. Hassan Haddad, deputy public prosecutor, told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) that Saberi "without press credentials and under the name of being a reporter, was carrying out espionage activities." In its report, published Wednesday, ISNA quoted the prosecutor as saying that "she has been...

A court in Casablanca sentenced on Monday Managing Editor Ali Anouzla and Publishing Director Jamal Boudouma of the independent daily Al-Jarida al-Oula to two-month suspended jail terms each and a fine of 200,000 dirhams (US$24,190) for "defamation" and "insulting the judiciary," the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported local news reports. Anouzla said his lawyer will appeal the...

The father of imprisoned journalist Roxana Saberi says he and his wife are making plans to go to Iran to see her in a couple of days. "I'm hoping if she sees us, it will lift her spirits," Reza Saberi said told the Associated Press on Wednesday. The AP report said: [ Link] The Iranian government has said Roxana Saberi was imprisoned for doing reporting work in the country after her press...