I’ve just finished reading a piece on Global Voices about the controversial issue of owning a dog in Iran. With so many more fundamental freedoms curbed, you’d be forgiven for laughing this off. Last year an Iranian cleric issued a fatwa against...
Notes from Syria — SI reports from Syria’s capital
At last night's UNESCO's 2011 World Press Freedom Day event, a distinguished panel examined the freedom to report in light of the Arab Spring. One of the panelists was Shahira Amin, the brave Egyptian news anchor who quit in protest at Mubarak...
Iranian workers are denied the basic right of assembly but each year they valiantly mark May Day. Iran’s labour movement has a long and courageous history: despite the fact that workers have no right to form unions or express their grievances, many...
Al-Jazeera suspended its Arabic services in Syria yesterday (27 April) in response to attacks on its staff and government restrictions. The authorities have pressured Syrian nationals into resigning from the organisation and have prevented...
Yesterday (27 April) a Bahraini military court has sentenced four protestors to death and a further three to life in prison. The seven people were convicted of killing two policemen during protests in the country last month. While the foreign press...
A columnist for the independent Al-Wasat newspaper was arrested on Monday (25 April) after 30 uniformed and plainclothes police officials raided his house. Local journalists have claimed that Haidar Mohammed al-Nuaimi was dragged out of his house...
The Syrian regime has launched a massive crackdown against protestors demanding political reform in the country. The killing of protestors in 14 separate towns on April 22 heralded a dramatic escalation in violence. In an attempt to pre-empt...
Nasrin Sotoudeh, 47, writer, lawyer, and women and children’s rights activist, has been awarded PEN’s Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. The award honours international literary figures who have been persecuted or imprisoned for exercising...
Yemeni authorities detained the editor of Al-Shahid at a checkpoint on 25 April. Abdel Aziz al-Majidi was prevented from entering the Taiz province to report on the region. In a separate incident on the same day, security forces encircled the house...