The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights reports that Jaleela Al Salman, vice president of the Bahrain Teachers Association was arrested on 18 October from her home without a warrant. On 25 September, a military court sentenced Al Salman to three years...
CATEGORY: Middle East and North Africa
Report: Maikel Nabil Sanad transferred to psychiatric hospital
Sahar Maher, human rights activist and a member of the Free Maikel campaign, has told Index that authorities are transferring Maikel Nabil to a "mental hospital", where he would be "put under watch for 45 days to make sure his mental situation is...
Yemen: Cameraman killed by security forces
A cameraman for Al-Yemen TV, Abd Al-Ghani Al-Bureihi, was killed when Yemeni security forces opened fire at a demonstration in Sanaa calling for the president to step down on 16 October. Two other cameramen were also allegedly injured at the same...
Tunisia: Crowds gather for anti-censorship march
Thousands of demonstrators took part in an anti-censorship march in the Tunisian capital on Sunday. As the debate between Islamic conservatives and secularists continues in the country, the liberal demonstrators gathered for the march,...

Egypt’s Bloody Sunday
On 9 October, 27 demonstrators protesting attacks against churches were murdered outside Egypt’s state TV building.
Yasmine El-Rashidi asks why the media is silencing one side of the story

Bahrain: Where a Facebook “like” gets you expelled
Students at Bahrain Polytechnic are being silenced and expelled for social media posts. Sara Yasin reports
Tunisia: Broadcast of ‘Persepolis’ prompts protest
Hundreds of protesters have attacked a private television company in Tunisia in protest over the broadcast of the award winning film "Persepolis." The protesters, who believe that the animated film denigrates Islam, attacked the TV station Nessma...

Blogger reaches 50th day of hunger strike
Maikel Nabil Sanad is today entering his 50th day of hunger strike. The Egyptian blogger has been abstaining from food since 23 August in protest of a three-year sentence handed to him by a military court on charges of "insulting the armed forces"...
Iran: Actress sentenced to year in prison for censorship film
On 8 October, Actress Marzieh Vafamehr was sentenced to 90 lashes and a year in jail for her performance in a film exploring censorship of artists in Iran, according to reports from Kalameh.com, an Iranian opposition website. Vafamehr was in...

Tawakkol Karman: a courageous and controversial campaigner
Iona Craig on the the Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize winner