The Head of Global News at the BBC has sought government action over the increasing "intimidation" of their staff in Iran. In a BBC blog post Peter Horrocks claimed yesterday that there had been an increase in "anti-BBC rehtoric" following a...
CATEGORY: Middle East and North Africa
Gaza: New restrictions on foreign journalists
Hamas's interior ministry has adopted new rules restricting the reporting of foreign journalistse. According to the new rules, foreign journalists would have to apply to Gaza's interior ministry in advance, and processing "could take several days"....
Egypt: Columnists protest censorship
Three columnists for the Egyptian independent daily Al-Tahrir will not be publishing their regular columns in protest at what they view as censorship by the current military rulers. Belal Fadl, Omer Taher, and Nagla Bedir have been openly critical...
Bahrain: Protesters sentenced to 15 years in prison
Bahrain's National Safety Court has handed 15 year sentences to protesters in two different cases involving University of Bahrain. In one case, the court gave 15 years in prison to 15 individuals that were participating in protests and vandalism at...

Egyptian blogger passes 40th day of hunger strike
Maikel Nabil Sanad is entering his 42nd day of hunger strike in protest against a three-year sentence imposed by a military court for criticising the army. He spoke
to Shahira Amin
Blogger passes 40th day of hunger strike
It's Maikel Nabil Sanad's 26th birthday but he is in no celebratory mood. When I arrive at El Marg prison north of Cairo during visiting hours on Saturday 1 October, I can barely hide my shock at seeing his bony physique. Maikel is wearing a...
Egypt: Police raid Al Jazeera offices
Egyptian police raided the offices of Al Jazeera yesterday, for the second time in a month. Around 25 plain clothed police officers stormed the affiliate office, detaining journalist Mohamed Suleiman and roughing up other members of staff. The...

Tunisia: Free expression groups celebrate whistleblower release
Police commissioner Samir Feriani has been acquitted of “harming security of state” after criticising continued role of Ben Ali-era security officials. Index on Censorship reports
Bahrain: Court upholds lengthy prison sentences for journalists
The lengthy prison sentences of two journalists have been upheld in Bahrain. Journalistic bloggers Abduljalil Alsingace and Ali Abdel Imam were sentenced in June on a series of charges related to "plotting to topple" the regime, along with 19 other...
Egypt: Authorities block publication of controversial feature
Egyptian authorities have blocked the publication of a controversial feature story. Daily newspaper Rose al-Youssef were due to run the second part of an investigative article on an alleged Israeli spy once stationed in Cairo, but publication was...