A Syrian journalist has been beaten, arrested and detained whilst covering a protest in Damascus. Rudy Othman, a prominent freelance journalist, was arrested by security forces during a protest on Thursday, but his whereabouts, legal status, or...
CATEGORY: Middle East and North Africa
UAE: Authorities censor two Arab Spring-inspired art pieces at gallery
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have removed two paintings inspired by the Arab spring from an art fair. The paintings, which were appearing as part of the regional art fair "Art Dubai", unsettled the authorities and were ommitted. A...

Pray for Ali Abdulemam
It is very difficult to imagine what life is like for Ali Abdulemam, the blogger turned fugitive. How can anyone hide for a year on an island that is 55 kilometres by 18 kilometres, and that has turned into a police state, where the state conducts...
Libya: British journalists freed
Two British journalists who were arrested and accused of spying by a Libyan militia group have been released. Gareth Montgomery-Johnson and Nicholas Davies, who work for Iran's state-owned Press TV were released on Sunday and cleared of all...
Saudi Arabia: Website managers held without charge
Three Saudi web managers from news websites which cover political unrest are being held in prison without charge. Habib Ali al-Maatiq and Hussein Malik al-Salam from Al-Fajr Cultural Network and Jalal Mohamed al-Jamal from news website Al-Awamia...
Tunisia: The fight for an uncensored web is far from over
Yesterday was Tunisia's first National Day for Internet Freedom, the day also commemorates the death of cyber dissident Zouhaier Yahyaoui, who died seven years ago at the age of 37. Via his website TUNeZINE, Zouhair criticised the corrupt and...
Egypt: Court clears ‘virginity test’ doctor
A doctor accused of carrying out forced "virginity tests" on female Egyptian protesters has been acquitted by a military court. Ahmed Adel was cleared after the judge found contradictions in witness statements. The case was brought by Samira...
Kuwait: Art exhibition shut down for “controversial” content
An art exhibition in Kuwait has been shut down three hours after opening. A group of men entered the exhibition of a collection of paintings from Kuwaiti artist Shurooq Amin, and removed the paintings, claiming they had received a complaint over...
Saudi journalist facing the death penalty for his tweets reportedly to be released
A Saudi journalist facing the death penalty for a series of tweets deemed to be blasphemous is reportedly to be released. Hamza Kashgari, who fled his own country after tweeting a conversation between himself and the prophet Mohammed which sparked...
Harassment of anti-government students at Bahrain Polytechnic continues
Last year, a number of students from Bahrain Polytechnic were expelled from the university for “participating in unlicensed gatherings and marches”. Targeting anti-government students, evidence for the expulsions was mostly obtained from social...