Around 300 journalists jailed, 24 killed: CPJ’s Annual Report
New Delhi: The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released its annual report, in which it has mentioned that “The number of journalists jailed around the world hit a new record in 2021. China and Myanmar remained at the top of the list to jail journalists,”
According to the report 50 journalists were imprisoned in China, 26 in Burma, 25 in Egypt, 23 in Vietnam, and 19 in Belarus.
Including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Russia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, the CPJ said a total of 293 journalists were in prison worldwide as of December 1 — up from 280 the year before.
Joel Simon, executive director of the group said that “This is the sixth year in a row that CPJ has documented record numbers of journalists imprisoned around the world. Imprisoning journalists for reporting the news is the hallmark of an authoritarian regime,”
The association also counted 24 journalists killed around the world this year. Mexico remained the Western hemisphere’s deadliest country for journalists, with three, murdered for their reporting and the motives for six other killings under investigation.
The report noted restrictive environments for journalists around the world, including laws used to target reporters in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, the coup in Myanmar, the war in northern Ethiopia, and the crackdown on the opposition in Belarus.
(_Vinayak Barot)
