Rabat, Morocco (AFP): Morocco’s highest court has rejected the final appeals of two journalists — Omar Radi and Soulaimane Raissouni. The two were imprisoned on sexual assault charges, and reject the allegations, according to their lawyer. The Court of Cassation in Rabat “rejected our appeal and confirmed the prison sentences...
ISLAMABAD (AA): A US lawmaker has proposed that his government exchange two high-profile prisoners. The first is a Pakistani national, Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year prison sentence in Texas for the attempted murder of a US soldier in Afghanistan. The second is Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA run a […]
ISTANBUL (AA): A Malaysian politician was arrested in a pre-dawn raid on Tuesday, charged with sedition for comments about a member of the royal family. Sanusi Mohammed Nor, the caretaker minister of the northwestern Kedah city, claimed he was “being subjected to political persecution and silenced” through legal proceedings related...
Bamako, Mali (AFP): A prominent Malian TV and radio journalist has been acquitted of charges that he falsely claimed a former premier had been murdered while in detention under the ruling junta. Mohamed Youssouf Bathily was placed in custody on March 13 after allegedly saying former prime minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga had not died from [&he...
Srinagar, India (AFP): India’s top court has begun considering a challenge to the 2019 imposition of direct rule in Indian Occupied Kashmir, a decision accompanied by mass arrests of Kashmiris and a months-long internet blackout. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government suspended a section of the constitution that guarantees limit...
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA): Israel released senior Hamas leader Hasan Yousef from prison on Sunday after 20 months of detention, according to his son. “My father was released from Ofer prison, west of Ramallah, and he is at home now,” Oweis Hassan told Anadolu. There was no confirmation yet from the Israeli authorities. In February 2022, [&helli...
Geneva, Switzerland (AFP): The United Nations has voiced deep concern that the crackdown on freedoms in Tunisia is now targeting journalists. UN human rights chief Volker Turk said vague legislation was being used to criminalise independent journalism and stifle criticism of the authorities. “It is troubling to see Tunisia, a country tha...
WASHINGTON (AA): US Muslim Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said on Tuesday that she will be boycotting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to Congress. “It’s shameful that Modi has been given a platform at our nation’s capital—his long history of human rights abuses, anti-democratic actions targeting Muslims & religious minorit...
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA): The US has announced a new visa policy with a provision to restrict issuing visas to any Bangladeshi citizen believed to be involved in undermining free and peaceful elections. The new visa policy can restrict anyone, including current and former Bangladeshi officials, members of political parties, and members of law en...
Conakry, Guinea (AFP): Private media and online outlets in the West African state of Guinea on Tuesday launched a one-day boycott of news in protest at press and internet restrictions by the ruling junta. Espace TV and Kalac TV posted an image of two hands pushing apart steel bars against a backdrop of the national […]
