Published date: 16 March 2021 09:49 UTC | Last update: 1 week 2 days ago
Egyptian free speech advocates are expressing concern that the fate of detained media professionals is being used as a campaigning card ahead of the midterm elections of the Journalists Syndicate, the independent guild of the nation s newspaper writers. Some of the candidates are putting pressure on the government to release the journalists put in jail on fabricated and laughable charges, Amr Badr, the head of the Committee on Freedoms at the syndicate, told Middle East Eye.
Several journalists, held in pre-trial detention, were released earlier this month at an initiative by Diaa Rashwan, the outgoing head of the Journalists Syndicate, who is campaigning for a second two-year term at the saddle of the union.
Bahrain voices anger over torture allegations
Bahrain s foreign ministry has sent a letter of protest to its Qatari counterpart strongly condemning a television programme broadcast by Al Jazeera, the Cairo-based newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm has reported.
The programme, broadcast on the Qatari network on 7 March, said that opposition prisoners were tortured in the Jaw Central Prison in Bahrain in 2015.
The ministry said the episode contained “inaccurate information” and allegations made by people who had been hired to campaign against Bahrain.
The letter said the programme was incompatible with the spirit and principles of the Gulf reconciliation declaration reached at the Al-Ula summit in Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
Wednesday, 27 January, 2021 - 11:45
Protesters have decried both inequality and police abuses during recent rallies. (AFP) Asharq Al-Awsat
Tunisian police slapped and arrested a photojournalist working at night despite his having an authorization to be out after curfew, the national press syndicate said on Wednesday amid criticism of the security forces’ handling of protests.
Islem Hkiri, a freelance photographer, was charged with breaking curfew and assaulting a public servant.
He had earlier published pictures of police using pepper spray during a recent surge of protests in Tunisia, a democracy since the 2011 revolution. Protesters have decried both inequality and police abuses.
Security forces have arrested more than 1,200 people including many under the age of 18 and have widely used teargas against demonstrators. Although daytime protests have mostly been peaceful, those at night have involved repeated cla
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Islem Hkiri, a freelance photographer, was charged with breaking curfew and assaulting a public servant.
He had earlier published pictures of police using pepper spray during a recent surge of protests in Tunisia, a democracy since the 2011 revolution that inspired the Arab spring. Protesters have decried both inequality and police abuses.
FILE - Demonstrators face police officers during clashes in Ettadhamen City near Tunis, Jan. 19, 2021.
Security forces have arrested more than 1,200 people including many under the age of 18 and have widely used teargas against demonstrators. Although daytime protests have mostly been peaceful, those at night have involved repeated clashes with police as well as some looting.
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