Kuwaiti writer Mohamed al-Melify was jailed for seven years on Monday on charges of spreading false statements via Twitter. He was arrested last February, and the Kuwait Criminal Court found him guilty of spreading false news about sectarian...
CATEGORY: Middle East and North Africa
Turkey: Publisher Ragip Zarakolu released pending trial
Eminent Turkish free expression champion Ragip Zarakolu was freed from prison in Turkey pending trial along with 14 others yesterday. Zarakolu, director of the Belge Publishing House, which has published works on taboo subjects such as the Armenian...
Free Abdulhadi Alkhawaja
Open letter: Bahrain risks instigating a collapse of its civic society if it fails to release activist and hunger striker Abdulhadi Alkhawaja. Index joins rights organisations, politicians and academics in calling on Bahrain’s ruler to release him immediately
Bahrain roundup: Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, heightened tension and Formula 1
Increased anger within Bahrain's opposition over the continued detention of well-known activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja has renewed concerns over whether Formula 1's organising body should allow the controversial race to go ahead on 20-22 April. Over...
Palestinian authorities arrest and detain critics for Facebook posts
Two arrests linked to Facebook posts critical of the Palestinian Authority (PA) have spurred a variety of human rights and media freedom groups to call on the PA to stop harassing their critics. On Wednesday 28 March, Palestinian Preventative...
Tunisia: Journalists and bloggers assaulted on “Martyrs’ Day” protest
Anti-government protesters clashed with police in the streets of Tunis over the weekend as they attempted to defy a ban prohibiting demonstrations on the capital's main avenue. Protesters raising anti-government slogans took to the streets on 9...
Bahraini activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja deteriorating rapidly in prison
Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi AlKhawaja is now entering the 58th day of his hunger strike, having spent his 51st birthday yesterday in a prison clinic. His lawyer has tweeted a picture of him in his weak and critical state, a far cry...
Palestinian journalist detained for covering corruption scandal
Journalist Yousef Al Shayeb, detained by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank town of Ramallah, was released on bail on Monday “pending investigation” after eight days of incarceration. Al Shayeb began a hunger strike “in the name of press...
Street artists under fire in Tunisia
“Our theatre is the street," said Nasreddine Ben Maâti, President of Eich el-Fan ("live the art" in English), a young association dedicated to street art. “Tunisian citizens are boycotting theaters and cinemas so we decided to go for the people...
Tunisia: Al Jazeera journalist expelled from meeting, attacked
A Tunisian journalist was physically attacked after being ejected from a political meeting last week. Al Jazeera journalist Lotfi Hajji was officially invited to a meeting on 24 March which brought together several political parties, but was...
