Journalist Abdul-Elah Haidar Shaye should have been released from prison as part of concessions to protesters in Yemen. But a phone call from the US president has kept him behind bars. Iona Craig reports
Amid the constant Egyptian government promises these days that it is committed to reform, growth and dialogue with all opposition forces, it’s worth noting that the campaign of harassment, detention and arrest of activists and journalists has never...
As protests continue in Cairo on day of departure, the intimidation of journalists trying to cover the developments persists. Earlier today, correspondents from the Guardian group Peter Beaumont and Jack Shenker were interrogated by the Egyptian...
In Sana’a the opposition was outfoxed by President Saleh — but protests in provincial cities show the public’s anger has not abated. Iona Craig reports
If Wednesday was the day that the protesters occupying Cairo’s Tahrir Square were besieged by armed pro-government thugs, then Thursday was the journalists’ turn for a little terrifying mob violence. All through the day, came steadily increasing...
Index on Censorship condemns the tactics of intimidation and violence being used against peaceful protesters, journalists and human rights activists in Egypt. Over the past 24 hours, there have been reports of both Egyptians and foreigners being injured, detained and intimidated in the beginning of a crackdown. Incidents include: the arrest of three al Jazeera journalists; the disappearance of Swedish reporter Bert Sundström; the harassment of reporters from Daily News Egypt; the beating of Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey; the arrest of Washington Post journalists Leila Fadel and Linda Davidson; the attacks on hotels in Cairo housing foreign journalists; and the detention of foreign and Egyptian human rights workers.
We call on the government and the authorities to release all journalists, human rights workers and protesters who are being unlawfully held and to abide by Egypt’s legal obligations in respecting freedom of expression and the right to protest. We remind President Mubarak that Egypt is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We ask the EU, the, United States and the UN to put pressure on the government to restrain forces acting in their name.
The internet suddenly came back up this morning, which means that flood of amateur video uploads I predicted should really start flowing today. But anybody who thought the return of the net meant some sort of softening of President Hosni Mubarak’s...
The Iranian judiciary has sentenced Kaveh Kermanshahi, a member of the Kurdish Human Rights Organisation to five years in prison for "actions against national security" and propaganda against the regime. Blogger Navid Khanjani convicted on the same...
Last night at around 11pm local time Egypt's last remaining ISP was taken offline. There are also unconfirmed rumours that mobile network services are to be cut today. The Noor Group ISP served the Egyptian stock exchange and a number of hotels...
As protests in Egypt continue into their seventh day and police return to the streets, at least six journalists were arrested in Cairo earlier today. They were released after about three hours later, amidst unconfirmed reports that the United...