15 Oct 10 | Uncategorized
It’s not going well for maverick, boundary-pushing journalists this month.
In Morocco edgy magazine Nichane closed its doors, with the publisher claiming it was the victim of an advertising boycott ordered by the royal palace.
In Syria, a young female blogger who was mysteriously arrested 10 months ago, has officially been accused of being a spy for an unnamed foreign power. It remains unclear whether Tal al-Mallohi’s arrest or the espionage accusation has anything to do with her blogging activity.
Several journalists are facing jail time in Turkey, and the murder of a prominent journalist three years ago remains unresolved with no convictions.
In Saudi Arabia, the religious police have ominously started training on how to monitor Facebook, Twitter and other digital forms of social media. The Saudis, along with fellow Gulf monarchy the United Arab Emirates, continue to block the Blackberry messaging service.
Finally in Egypt Al-Dostour newspaper publisher Ibrahim Eissa, Egypt’s best and most provocative political columnist, was abruptly pushed out of his job and potentially blackballed.
There are two national Egyptian elections on the horizon — parliamentary next month and a crucial presidential vote next year. The authorities seem to be tightening the screws in preparation. The latest sign: new restrictions on SMS text messaging, which is frequently used as a mobilisation tool by activists. Independent newspaper Al Masry Al Youm (disclosure, I work for its English language edition) speculated that the new restrictions would,
hinder the logistical capabilities of Egypt’s political opposition, which has come to depend on SMS messaging to mobilise supporters for public protests and demonstrations.
A government spokesman’s priceless response? “We are not making life difficult. We are making life organized, that is all.”
The very next day, the exact same telecommunications regulatory agency struck again. This time it moved to establish firmer control over all live television news broadcasts from Egypt.
15 Oct 10 | Egypt
It’s not going well for maverick, boundary-pushing journalists this month.
In Morocco edgy magazine Nichane closed its doors, with the publisher claiming it was the victim of an advertising boycott ordered by the royal palace.
In Syria, a young female blogger who was mysteriously arrested 10 months ago, has officially been accused of being a spy for an unnamed foreign power. It remains unclear whether Tal al-Mallohi’s arrest or the espionage accusation has anything to do with her blogging activity.
Several journalists are facing jail time in Turkey, and the murder of a prominent journalist three years ago remains unresolved with no convictions.
Finally in Egypt Al-Dostour newspaper publisher Ibrahim Eissa, Egypt’s best and most provocative political columnist, was abruptly pushed out of his job and potentially blackballed.
There are two national Egyptian elections on the horizon — parliamentary next month and a crucial presidential vote next year. The authorities seem to be tightening the screws in preparation. The latest sign: new restrictions on SMS text messaging, which is frequently used as a mobilisation tool by activists. Independent newspaper Al Masry Al Youm (disclosure, I work for its English language edition) speculated that the new restrictions would,
hinder the logistical capabilities of Egypt’s political opposition, which has come to depend on SMS messaging to mobilise supporters for public protests and demonstrations.
A government spokesman’s priceless response? “We are not making life difficult. We are making life organized, that is all.”
The very next day, the exact same telecommunications regulatory agency struck again. This time it moved to establish firmer control over all live television news broadcasts from Egypt.
In Saudi Arabia, the religious police have ominously started training on how to monitor Facebook, Twitter and other digital forms of social media. The Saudis, along with fellow Gulf monarchy the United Arab Emirates, continue to block the Blackberry messaging service.
08 Apr 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
Moroccan journalist Mohammed Attaoui was convicted of extortion and sentenced to two years in prison on March 22. He claims he was set up by a former source and a forestry ministry official. Attaoui said he gave him the money — about 1,000 dirhams (90 euros) — to travel to Rabat or Meknes to take a test for a promotion, but he was arrested two hours later by national guard officers. He has staged a hunger strike demanding a fair trial. Attaoui, an environmental correspondent for the daily newspaper Al-Monataf wrote an expose about the illegal cedar wood trade in Morocco, and was arrested just 20 days after it was published.
18 Nov 09 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, News and features
Moroccan newspaper Al-Michaal was banned on 13 November after editor in chief Driss Chahtan was sentenced to one year in prison and a 10,000 dirham fine as punishment for his articles about the health of King Mohamed VI. Two other journalists on the paper, Rasheed Mahameed and Mostafa Hiran, were sentenced to three months in prison and fines of 5000 dirham for writing similar articles.
