Syria

(IPI/IFEX) – In a 6 December 2001 letter to President Bashar al-Assad, IPI strongly condemned the ongoing campaign of harassment and violence against the Nayyouf family. In protest of the government’s intimidation campaign, three family members, Hayyan, Mamdouh and Salah Nayyouf, have now begun a hunger strike and are currently surviving only on water. According […]

(IPI/IFEX) – The 28 November 2001 alert was incorrectly titled, “Journalist Nizar Nayyouf’s family exiled”. The alert should have been titled, “Journalist Nayyouf’s family about to be exiled, held incommunicado.” The IFEX Clearing House regrets the error. IPI has also learned that members of the Nayyouf family have received anonymous death threats, that they “will […]

(IPI/IFEX) – In a 28 November 2001 letter to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, IPI strongly condemned the decision to exile the family of Syrian journalist Nizar Nayyouf. According to IPI sources, Syrian authorities are preparing to exile the journalist’s family to Lebanon. In a bid to keep them incommunicado until successfully expelled from the country, […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF welcomes Syrian journalist ‘Adel Isma’il’s release from prison, though the organisation regrets that he was not released sooner. RSF also remains concerned by the press freedom situation in Syria. Journalist Nizar Nayyouf, who was released on 6 May 2001 and is currently in France, remains under indirect pressure from the Syrian government. […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to President Bachar al-Assad, RSF expressed its deep concern after the Syrian authorities threatened to exile journalist Nizar Nayyouf’s family. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard asked the president to use his “influence so that these intimidation measures brought to bear against the journalist’s family cease.” Ménard added: “Using such behaviour in […]

(IPI/IFEX) – In an 8 November 2001 letter to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, IPI strongly condemned the harassment of journalist Nizar Nayyouf’s relatives by the authorities and members of the governing party, al-Ba’ath, in Syria. According to the information before IPI, two of Nayyouf’s brothers, Amjad and Mamdouh Nayyouf, who worked as teachers, were dismissed […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to President Bashar al-Assad, RSF expressed its deep concern after the recent dismissals of two of journalist Nizar Nayyouf’s brothers. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard asked the president to “order the cancellation of this decision so that the brothers may be reinstated in their jobs.” Ménard added, “The Syrian authorities now […]

(RSF/IFEX) – The issuance of a more repressive press law following the recent arrests of important political figures and members of civil society demonstrates once again the Syrian authorities’ refusal to allow the free flow of information. The authorisations granted to publish new newspapers and the holding of meetings by intellectuals had raised hopes of […]

(RSF/IFEX) – At the beginning of September 2001, journalist Nizar Nayyouf, who is currently in France, was summoned by a Syrian judge on charges of “issuing false reports abroad.” “The summoning of Nizar Nayyouf takes place in the context of the Syrian authorities’ arrests of important political figures and members of civil society like Riad […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 7 September 2001 CPJ press release: NEW CPJ BRIEFING ON PRESS FREEDOM IN SYRIA New York, September 7, 2001 – Just over a year after Syrian president Bashar al-Assad assumed power following the death of his father, the late Hafez al-Assad, optimism for a full-fledged revival of Syria’s restricted […]

(WAN/IFEX) – In a 5 September 2001 letter to President Bashar al-Assad, WAN and the World Editors Forum expressed their serious concern at the continuing harassment of journalist Nizar Nayyouf. According to reports, Nayyouf, who was released in May after spending nine years in prison for “disseminating false information,” has been summoned to court in […]

(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a WAN press release: Paris, 16 July 2001 WAN Welcomes Syrian Journalist to Paris The World Association of Newspapers on Monday welcomed Syrian journalist and democracy advocate Nizar Nayouf to Paris, culminating an intense effort to get him out of prison and into a hospital for adequate medical treatment. “We […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 27 June 2001, a dozen representatives from international media were barred from entering Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s press conference at the Marigny Hotel in Paris. “The filtering at the entrance to this press conference is symptomatic of the methods employed by the Syrian authorities against the foreign press. It is also a […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On the occasion of Bashar al-Assad’s visit to France, RSF has sent a letter to Jacques Chirac, Lionel Jospin and Raymond Forni, appealing to them to talk with the Syrian president about press freedom in Syria. RSF notably told them about its concern for the health of Nizar Nayyouf, who was recently released, […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Nizar Nayyouf was released during the night of 21 to 22 June, after twenty-four hours in detention. On 21 June, Syrian authorities denied having abducted the journalist. “The Syrian government is not responsible for his disappearance, which could be voluntary,” an official Syrian source told Agence France-Presse. In a telephone interview with RSF […]

(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a WAN press release: Nizar Nayouf Abducted by Intelligence Agents Nizar Nayouf, the prominent Syrian journalist and democracy activist who was freed from prison last month, was abducted from a Damascus street on Wednesday, 20 June, apparently by Syrian intelligence agents. Sources told the World Association of Newspapers that six […]