Muntazer al Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who sparked headlines worldwide after throwing his shoe at George Bush, has been sentenced to three years in prison. Read more here
Shoe thrower jailed for three years
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CATEGORY: Middle East and North Africa
Iraq minutes release vetoed
Justice Secretary Jack Straw has vetoed the release of minutes of cabinet meetings in the lead-up to the Iraq war. The Information Commissioner had previously ruled that the records should be released. Read more here
The Satanic Verses at 20
On 14 February 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran declared a death sentence on novelist Salman Rushdie after the publication of The Satanic Verses. Twenty years on Lisa Appignanesi, recalls how a ground-breaking, visionary novel was hijacked and...
Philip Rizk released
Early Wednesday morning, blogger and activist Philip Rizk, who was detained after he participated in public demonstrations in support of Gaza last Friday, was released and driven home without having been charged. The Egyptian government has not...
Gaza activist detained in Egypt
German-Egyptian activist Philip Rizk was detained north of Cairo following a rally in support of Palestinians in Gaza. Eyewitnesses said the author of popular blog Tabula Gaza was bundled into a white van with no licence plates, which then sped...
Iraq: counting on change
Iraq began a year of elections with regional council votes in 14 governorates on Saturday. Yet more work has still to be done to guarantee a fair national dialogue on the issues – in the press, through the national media, the public broadcaster and...
Iran: after the revolution
The celebrated photographer and Pulitzer prize-winner Kaveh Golestan was one of the great defenders of free speech in Iran. He reflects in this essay, first published in 1994, on the fallout of the revolution My childhood was spent among the...
Radio Kalima attacked
Intimidation of employees of Tunisia's Radio Kalima continued on Thursday, after police surrounded the premises of the satellite radio station earlier in the week. Staff were threatened and detained and the station's equipment was sabotaged and...
Iran: after the revolution
When Ayatollah Khomeini arrived in Tehran on 1 February 1979, a brief period of freedom for Iranians came to an end. Yassamine Mather looks at the development of the Islamic Republic's suppression of dissent During the last few weeks of the Shah’s...
Al Khaiwani sentenced by appeal court, despite presidential pardon
Amnesty award winning Yemeni journalist Abdul Kareem al Khaiwani has been sentenced to six years imprisonment for 'disseminating pro-rebel propaganda', despite receiving a pardon from the president in September last year. Read more here