Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)

The government of Syria should immediately and unconditionally release the arbitrarily detained human rights defender Mazen Darwish and his colleagues Hani Al-Zitani and Hussein Ghareer, 61 human rights organizations said on 17 March 2014.

On 8 March, Moroccan security forces dispersed a peaceful march led by Sahrawi women in the city of Laayoune in Western Sahara to mark International Women’s Day.

Abdel Wahed al-Badi and Said Buraimi, both Emirati citizens, were sentenced to five years in prison each, while Mahmoud Al-Geda, a Qatari citizen, was sentenced to seven on charges of providing assistance to and being members of a “banned clandestine organisation”.

Four Echorouk TV journalists were detained by Algerian authorities during their coverage of a protest denouncing the possibility of a fourth term for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

On Music Freedom Day, IFEX recognises the free expression rights of musicians and looks back at five cases from the last year when people have tried to stop the music.

Yemeni authorities issued the ban against Aden Alghad newspaper on 22 February sparking protests in Aden.

Journalists Amr Salama Al-Qazzaz, co-founder of the Rassd Network, and Islam Al-Homsi, director of the social media department at the network, were referred to a military court on 23 February on charges of publishing leaked parts of Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Sisi’s interview with Al-Masry Al-Yawm.

On 17 February 2014, the home of detained human rights defender Khalil Ma’touq in Damascus was raided by security forces. His daughter, Ranim an art student, was arrested and his 17 year old son was beaten during the raid.