Since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak two years ago, artists have been active in breaking Egypt’s age-old taboos around sexual violence, especially since sexual harassment has been on the rise.
Melody Patry reports.
CATEGORY: Middle East and North Africa
Will Obama keep Yemeni journalist in jail?
This week an order was for the release of imprisoned Yemeni journalist Abdul-Elah Haidar Shaye. But the last time this happened, Barack Obama stepped in and Shaye remained in jail. Will the reporter now walk free? Iona Craig reports
Internet outage in Syria
Syria appears to be cut off from internet access, according to reports from web monitoring groups. Google's transparency report shows that access to its services has been cut off in the country since 22:00 local time on Tuesday. Similarly, web...
Moroccan atheist Imad Habib hiding from police
Moroccan atheist Imad Eddin Habib is now on the run, after police began searching for him last week. Habib told Irshad Manji‘s Moral Courage TV that officers confronted his father, asking him to bring an end to his son’s activism. Habib is the founder of the Council of Ex-Muslims in Morocco, which aims for the “application of a secular constitution.” The 22-year-old student has gained a reputation for his activism and controversial posts online, including a photograph of himself eating ice cream during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. Shortly before he went into hiding, Habib was featured in an article on a high profile Moroccan news site, and police were searching for him hours after it was published. Atheism is […]
Tunisia’s press faces repressive laws, uncertain future
The press in Tunisia is caught between the restrictive legal framework of the Ben Ali regime and the uncertainties of the post-revolutionary transition, Rohan Jayasekera, Ghias Aljundi and Yousef Ahmed report.
Egypt’s post-revolution media vibrant but partisan
The post-Mubarak press is sensational, tabloid and segmented media, reflecting the deep polarization in the country, Shahira Amin reports.
Egypt’s draft NGO law draws fierce criticism
Rights groups have decried the draft legislation, arguing that it is even more restrictive than the current Mubarak-era Law 84, Shahira Amin writes from Cairo.
Egyptian activists counter ‘state media propaganda lies’
Prompted by the Egyptian defence minister’s denials that troops had killed or tortured protesters, a group of activists have been screening videos showing official brutality, Shahira Amin reports from Cairo.
Tunisian court fails to review verdict in Muhammad cartoon case
Tunisia’s Court of Cassation yesterday failed to review the seven-and-a-half year sentence of Jabeur Mejri, who was convicted last year of publishing cartoons of the prophet Muhammad on Facebook. Mejri’s lawyer, Mohammed Mselmi, told AFP that the demand for an appeal “was mysteriously withdrawn”, even though a hearing had been scheduled on 25 April. The defence team will now seek a presidential pardon for their client. Last March, a primary court in Mahdia (eastern Tunisia) sentenced Mejri and his friend Ghazi Beji to seven and half years in prison. Beji, who published a satirical book entitled “the illusion of Islam” online, fled Tunisia. Mejir, however, has been in prison since he was arrested on 5 March 2012. Both men were fined […]
Bahrain’s grand prix problem
Bahrain’s top news during the past 48 hours say a lot about the troubled country: glitzy races are welcome; experts on torture are not. Bahraini officials yesterday claimed that UN special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, had cancelled his upcoming visit “indefinitely”. Funnily enough, the special rapporteur has denied this claim, saying that the government has actually blocked his visit, which was set to take place next month. The Special Rapporteur said in a release today that officials claimed that his trip could potentially endanger the success of the country’s National Dialogue, which began earlier this year. Mendez said that the decision “does not enhance transparency with regard to the situation in the country nor demonstrate a commitment to redress […]