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"...
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...
Iona Craig on the the Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize winner
Dear Anna Politkovskaya, I am well aware that this honor, which bears your name, is not merely awarded to me personally but rather to the sons and daughters of Syria, and the 3,000 whose blood was spilled over the past 7 months by the same criminal...
International outcry over the sentencing of 20 medics in Bahrain, who treated injured protesters, has led to the announcement of their retrial. Front Line Defenders’
Mary Lawlor explores the stories of others imprisoned in similar circumstances
Several Egyptian writers and journalists published blank columns in the country's newspapers, in protest against the "military interference" of the press. A number of independent writers, including Belal Fadl, Naglaa Bedir and Tarek...
Religious women will be stationed outside of Tehran's underground stations in an effort to enlighten and guide female commuters back on the straight and narrow path. The Chief of Operations of Tehran's Metro system Ali Mohammad Gholiha, told Mehr...
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...
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"....
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...