UPDATE 15:37 28/02/11: France's President Sarkozy has said that Le Figaro correspondent Edith Bouvier has escaped Homs and is in Lebanon. This has not been fully confirmed. The Sunday Times has confirmed that British photographer Paul Conroy has...
CATEGORY: Middle East and North Africa
Egypt’s ministry of education censors young people’s political debate
Egypt's secretary of education has instructed educational institutions to prohibit students from engaging in political activities. The prohibition is understood to include taking part in political debates, writing articles, joining demonstrations,...

Military court hears evidence in Egyptian “virginity tests” case
A Cairo military court on Sunday heard witness testimony in a case against a soldier who allegedly performed "virginity tests" on seven female protesters on 10 March 2011. 22-year-old Samira Ibrahim filed a lawsuit against the military doctor whom...
Tunisia: Newspaper executive Nasreddine Ben Saida released
A Tunisian court today released Nasreddine Ben Saida, general director of the Arabic-language daily Attounissia, who was arrested on 15 February after his newspaper published a photo German-Tunisian footballer Sami Khedira with his naked...

Index calls on Syria to release human rights workers
Index join rights organisation in calling for the Syrian authorities to immediately release Mazen Darwish, a prominent Syrian human rights defender and his colleagues from Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression
Tunisian blogger tells of assault by police
In a period of less than three months, Zakaria Bouguira, a Tunisian blogger and medical student, has been assaulted twice by police. The first time was on 13 November last year as he was videotaping police officers physically and verbally abusing...

Man put in prison for “toys protest” in Belarus
A man in Belarus has been sentenced to 10 days in prison for placing children's toys on the street. Former political prisoner Pavel Vinogradov put soft toys on a curb with tiny banners to protest against police brutality in the country known as...
Tunisia: Court rules against web filtering in key test of new freedoms
On 22 February the Cassation Court of Tunis (Tunisia's highest court of appeal) overturned a verdict ordering Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) to filter pornography on the internet. The court has sent the case back to the Court of Appeal. On May, 26,...
Syria: Foreign journalists killed in Homs
Marie Colvin, veteran war reporter for the Sunday Times, was killed this morning with French photojournalist Remi Ochlik when a shell hit a makeshift media centre in the besieged Syrian city of Homs. Two other journalists are reportedly wounded,...

The mysterious case of Hamza Kashgari
In deporting Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari for his blasphemous tweets, the Malaysian government prioritised diplomacy, even if it might ultimately cost the columnist his life, argues Malik Imtiaz Sarwar
Myriam Francois-Cerrah: Hamza Kashgari targeted under guise of “religious offence”