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...
CATEGORY: Middle East and North Africa
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”
Syria: Razan Ghazzawi and female colleagues released
Blogger and free speech activist Razan Ghazzawi was released on Saturday along with her female colleagues, after being arrested and detained last Thursday following a raid on the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression in Damascus....
Bahrain: Four foreign activists deported
Bahrain announced the deportation of four foreign activists for "taking part in illegal demonstrations" on 18 February, bringing the number of those expelled over the past week to 12. The official BNA news agency reported on Friday that the four...
Tunisia: Provocative shot of Real Madrid’s Sami Khedira and naked girlfriend lands media executive in prison
Nasreddine Ben Saida, the general director of the Arabic-language daily newspaper Attounissia, has become the first media executive to be jailed in post Ben Ali era. Ben Saida, was not jailed for criticising the President, nor the government. He...
Tunisia: Journalists arrested in morality dispute
Three Tunisian journalists have been arrested on charges of offending public morality following the publication of a nude photograph. The Attounissia newspaper printed a photograph of Real-Madrid footballer Sami Khedira covering the breasts of his...
Samir Feriani trial delayed
On 16 February a court postponed the trial of Samir Feriani to 1 March. Ferani is charged with “distributing false information”, and “accusing a public employee of violating law without proof". Feriani, a former senior official at the Interior...
