24 May 2010 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
Al-Jazeera was suspended from operating in Bahrain on 19 May. The government said the news channel was “flouting the laws regulating the press and publishing” in the country and did not comply with “professional norms.” The bureau’s suspension includes both the Arabic and English stations and Bahrain-based online content; and an Al-Jazeera film crew have been denied entry into the country. Some reports claim a report Al-Jazeera aired on poverty in Bahrain may have been the catalyst for the ban.
7 May 2010 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
Freelance journalist Sardasht Osman was found dead yesterday in the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Osman, who was abducted on 5 May, had been tortured and shot twice. His family believe he was targeted because of a critical article he wrote about a high-ranking Klocal official. Osman’s brother, Bashdar told CPJ “In the last few months my brother received a number of phone threats, demanding that he stop meddling in government affairs”. Earlier this week, Reporters Sans Frontières accused the two parties that control the region — the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan — of creating a “tacit strategic accord” to restrict press freedom.
4 May 2010 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Twoal-Jazeera reporters were prevented from covering a demonstration in the West Bank on Friday by the Israeli military. They were detained for four and a half hours before being released and told to never return. Cameraman Majdi Bannoura and assistant Nader Abu Zer were arrested trying to videotape the weekly protests on the separation barrier being erected in Bil’in by Israel.
26 Apr 2010 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
The editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper al-Shahid, Saad al-Aossi, was abducted on 14 April. Armed men invaded his home, confiscated his computer and took him to an unknown location. There have been local reports that the men were from the police and the military, though Baghdad Operations Command issued a statement denying any involvement in his disappearance. His kidnapping came six days after he wrote an article condemning Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for a lack of transparency.
