December

JAILED. Firas Hatoum, Abdel-Azim Khayat, and Mohammed Barbar, two journalists and a driver from Lebanese New TV, for breaking into the apartment of a witness in the investigation into the murder of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri. The three men claimed to have received the permission of the apartment’s owner, but have been charged with interfering with an international investigation. The three were released on bail after 44 days in jail.

SENTENCED. Omar Belhouchet and Chawki Amari, editor and reporter of Algerian daily Al Watan, to three months in prison for libel, by an Algerian court. The two were sentenced and fined $14,000 for printing an article in June, 2006 accusing a local official of corruption in the eastern city of Jijel.

January

RESIGNED. Aboubakr Jamai, managing editor of Moroccan weekly Le Journal Hebdo-madaire, in the face of threatened fines from the government. Jamai was assessed a fine of $350,000 in April, 2006 for libel, but lacked personal funds to pay it off. Moroccan government officials had threatened to seize the newspaper’s assets to pay the debt.

SUSPENDED. The Mogadishu bureau of Al Jazeera, as well as local stations Radio Shabelle, HornAfrik and Radio Quran El Karim by Somali authorities for one day. The government ordered the four media outlets closed indefinitely shortly after taking over the city from the Islamic Courts Union, but reversed its decision the next day.

KILLED. Six Iraqi journalists: Yassin Assef, Khodr Al Obaidi, Falah Al Diyali, and Ahmed Naji, as well as two unnamed employees of Iraqi government daily Al Sabah. Assef, also an Al Sabah correspondent, was killed by a bomb in Baghdad while covering a story; Obaidi, a freelance journalist, was shot by gunmen while returning to his home in Mosul; Diyali, a reporter for the daily Al Saha, was shot near Ramadi; Naji, an Associated Press cameraman, disappeared in late December and was found dead of a bullet wound to the head a week later. The two unnamed Al Sabah employees were kidnapped from the paper’s office and later found with their throats slit.

FINED. Moroccan journalists Driss Ksikes and Sanaa Elaji of the Arabic-language weekly Nichane for “damaging Islam” in a feature about Moroccan humor. The two were fined $9,300 each by a court in Casablanca, which also handed out suspended sentences of three years for the two journalists and closed down their newspaper for two months.

CLOSED. The Baghdad headquarters of private television station Al Sharkiya, by the Iraqi Government, for “inciting violence” by showing footage of Iraqis mourning the death of former President Saddam Hussein. The satellite station continues to broadcast from its facilities in Amman and Dubai.

BOMBED. The Gaza offices of Al Arabiya and MBC by an unknown group, causing serious damages but no injuries. The news channel had received telephoned threats, as well as a threat of legal action from Palestinian PM Ismail Haniya, after it broadcast footage showing Haniya saying he would not accept conditional aid “even from God.” Haniya said the statement had been shown out of context.

KIDNAPPED. Jaime Razuri, a photographer for Agence France Presse, in Gaza by unknown gunmen. The Peruvian journalist was captured by four gunmen outside the AFP office in Gaza city and held for a week before being released.

ASSAULTED. Journalists across Lebanon by rioters from various sects during civil unrest in January. A number of media reports documented damage to press vehicles and cameras, mainly from rocks but also in hand-to-hand assaults.

ARRESTED. Al Jazeera producer Howaida Taha Matwali by Egyptian authorities for “damaging Egypt’s reputation.” Authorities confiscated 50 video tapes from Matwali, who had been working on a documentary about torture by Egyptian security forces. Authorities alleged that she had fabricated events, but Al Jazeera said that the tapes merely included “documentary reconstructions” of scenes of alleged abuses, a standard feature of television reporting on such topics. Matwali was held for 24 hours before being released on bail, and could face up to three years in prison.

SUSPENDED. Kuwaiti daily Al Watan for three days after publishing “indecent” pictures of Saddam Hussein’s family. Although the paper blurred the bodies of female relatives, a Kuwaiti court ruled that the photos violated public decency laws.

February

BLOWN UP. The Voice of Labour, a Fatah-affiliated radio station in the northern town of Jebaliya, Gaza, by Hamas fighters. Fighters took control of the station after a five-hour siege and demolished it amid ongoing clashes between Hamas and Fatah in the Palestinian territories.

TRIED. Abdel Karim Suleiman, a blogger, by the Egyptian authorities for “insulting Islam” and “defaming the President.” Suleiman could face up to 11 years in prison for criticizing Egyptian President Mubarak and Al Azhar University on his blog. A verdict was expected in his case in late February.