Nine journalists and board members of the opposition daily Cumhuriyet were imprisoned pending trial on 4 November. At least 112 journalists and other media workers have been remanded in pre-trial detention since the 15 July coup attempt and the declaration of the state of emergency on 21 July. A total of 169 media outlets have been shut down during the same period by executive decree.

Iranian artists Mehdi Rajabian and Hossein Rajabian have started a second hunger strike on 28 October in protest at their continued detention.

Three activists have been convicted for organising a peaceful protest in 2014 and have been ordered by the court to pay substantial fines.

The whereabouts of ten medical doctors remain unknown after being arrested by the Sudanese National Intelligence Service (NISS) between 30 October and 6 November. They are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.

A Cairo court adjourned to 19 November the trial of Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid (“Shawkan”). He faces trumped-up charges and risks the death penalty if convicted.

On 17 October the Cassation Court rejected the Appeal Court’s decision to extend the opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman’s prison sentence from four to nine years and ordered his retrial before the Appeal Court.

Natalya Sharina’s trial began on 2 November and if convicted, she will face up to ten years in prison. Natalya Sharina is a prisoner of conscience and must be released immediately and unconditionally.

Two co-founders of a Saudi Arabian human rights organization are on trial before the counter-terror court on charges related to their human rights work.

Prisoner of conscience Maryam Akbari Monfared, who is serving a 15-year sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison, is being denied access to medical treatment.

Bahraini women’s rights activist Ghada Jamsheer, a prisoner of conscience serving the remainder of a 10-month prison sentence, is due in court on 7 November.