A man imprisoned in Morocco for creating a fake Facebook profile of the king’s brother has been released after receiving a royal pardon. Fouad Mourtada was arrested in February and sentenced to three years in prison for 'usurping the identity of...
Iran’s culture ministry yesterday closed down nine lifestyle magazines, claiming they used ‘photos of artists, especially foreign corrupt film stars, as instruments to arouse desire’. The motivation for the ban is unclear. None of the magazines...
The Jordanian ministry of the interior has announced increased restrictions on Internet cafés, which are widespread in the country’s cities. Internet café owners will be obliged to install cameras for the purpose of identifying customers. They will...
An Afghan magazine editor has been detained in Iran and continues to be held without charge. Ali Muhahiq Nasab, editor of the monthly Haqoq-e-Zan (Women’s Rights), was apparently detained by Iranian officials on 4 March in Qumm, near Tehran....
Sihem Bensedrine and her husband Omar Mestiri were seized by customs officials upon their arrival at la Goulette port on 3 March. Awarded the 2008 peace prize by the Danish Peace Foundation, Bensedrine is president of the working group on press...
The murder of Shahab Al-Tamimi highlights the difficulties faced by Iraqis trying to build a free press and civil society, say Dave Anderson and Gary Kent Are we becoming inured to the murders of journalists and civil society leaders in Iraq? The...
Hassan Nobakhtian, the editor of conservative website Nosaki, was arrested on 25 February, despite having had no complaints brought against him. The arrest took place 11 days after Nosaki was banned by Tehran prosecutor-general Said Mortazavi....
The Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has ruled that minutes of cabinet meetings in the days leading up to the Iraq war should be released. Explaining the proposed break in protocol, where cabinet minutes are kept secret, Thomas said the...
A Tunisian comic may have paid a high price for making fun of the country’s leader, writes Rohan Jayasekera Index on Censorship is calling for the release of Tunisian comedian Hédi Ouled Baballah, who has been jailed on the basis of suspect...
The release of a draft of the British government’s dossier on Iraqi weapons confirms suspicions but also raises more questions, writes Chris Ames Monday’s release of the John Williams draft of the Iraq “weapons of mass destruction” dossier shows...