State Persecution

Two prominent Iranian journalists, Hengameh Shahidi and Saeed Laylaz, have been sentenced to extended prison terms. Shahidi was sentenced on Monday to six years and three months in prison, while Laylaz was sentenced to a prison sentence of no fewer than nine years, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported quoting local and international news reports. Shahidi‎, who is...

After being held by police for 12 days at the headquarters of the criminal investigation department in Kuwait City, journalist Mohammed Al-Jassem appeared in court again Tuesday morning and was able to challenge the legality of his detention and the way the investigation has been conducted, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. At the end of a hearing of more than two hours, the court...

A court in N’Djamena Saturday ordered the automatic seizure of all issues published by the privately-owned weekly La Voix, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. “This is a political decision, one that is marred by irregularities,” said one of the newpaper’s lawyers, Jean-Bernard Padaré. La Voix hopes to continue publishing. The court could not legally order the newspaper’s closure so it...

Harassment of critical journalists has been escalating in Tunisia since President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali threatened to prosecute anyone who casts doubt on his reelection for a fifth five-year term in office on October 25. Journalists Zuhair Makhlouf and Taoufik Ben Brik were both sentenced to jail terms in the past week, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. Ben...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has expressed concern over Ma’an Aqil, a journalist who was arrested at his office in the Syrian government daily Al-Thawra in Damascus on November 22 by police from the national criminal investigations department, who took him to their headquarters for questioning. The police have not explained why he has been arrested. Two days after his arrest, the Union of Press...

The Chadian government has been harassing the new, privately-owned weekly La Voix. On November 28, one of its reporters was verbally abused by the interior minister and then detained for several hours while, on December 3, a court is due to rule on a government complaint challenging its legality, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. While covering the installation of a new police director...

Kuwait’s prosecutor-general Tuesday ordered the police to continue holding journalist Mohammed Abdel Qader Al-Jassem at the headquarters of the criminal investigation department after he was take in for questioning the day before in connection with a libel suit by the prime minister and then refused to pay bail of 1,000 dinars (2,345 euros), Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. As Kuwait...

Officials from the Odessa Public Utility Service and mayor’s office have been physically obstructing the work of several Ukranian television and radio stations on the grounds of alleged building renovation, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported quoting local news reports. On Monday, city officials first barred reporters from entering their offices in the Odessa...

The Singapore government has refused to renew British freelance journalist Benjamin Bland’s work visa, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. The government rejected his application to cover the recently concluded Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting. Bland had planned to report on the summit for the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper. Bland’s visa...

A Lusaka court Monday acquitted the Post editor Chansa Kabwela of a charge of “distributing obscene material” for sending the vice-president photos of a woman giving birth in a hospital car park during a strike by hospital staff, Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. Judge Charles Kafunda dismissed the case on the grounds that there was no evidence that the photos would corrupt...