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China is the world's biggest jailer of journalists this year

The report by Reporters Without Borders notes that surveillance and censorship and reached extreme levels in China where currently 110 journalists are behind bars. Myanmar, with 62 journalists behind bars, Iran with 47, Vietnam with 39 and Belarus with 31 occupy the top five positions as the world's biggest jailer of journalists. 

China is the world's biggest jailer of journalists this year
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First Published Dec 14, 2022, 1:58 PM IST

China has emerged as the world's biggest jailer of journalists, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published Wednesday. The total number of journalists currently detained around the world, too, has touched a record figure of 533, which according to the RSF, is 13.4% higher than last year's figure.  

The report notes that surveillance and censorship and reached extreme levels in China where currently 110 journalists are behind bars. Myanmar, with 62 journalists behind bars, Iran with 47, Vietnam with 39 and Belarus with 31 occupy the top five positions as the world's biggest jailer of journalists. 

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Worryingly, the number of journalists killed has increased (57) this year when compared to the figures in 2021. Another 65 journalists have been hostage, while 49 have been reported missing.

According to RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire, authoritarian and dictatorial filling their prisons faster than ever by jailing journalists. 'This new record in the number of detained journalists confirms the pressing and urgent need to resist these unscrupulous governments and to extend our active solidarity to all those who embody the ideal of journalistic freedom, independence and pluralism,' Deloire said.

The RSF highlighted that out of the 533 journalists who have been detained, just over a third of the journalists have been convicted. The remaining 63.6 per cent of them are being detained without trial.

The Russia-Ukraine war has been listed as one of the reasons for the increased number of journalist detentions. According to RSF, Moscow unleashed a media crackdown since it began its military operations against Ukraine in February 2022. 

Independent media outlets in Russia were banned or blocked or declared 'foreign agents' and forced to work underground, the report highlights, adding that they stand the risk of facing 15-year jail terms for allegedly spreading falsehoods about the Russian army operations. 

One of the significant statistics listed by the RSF is about the "historic" rise in the number of women journalists behind bars.

According to the RSF, 78 women journalists are currently behind bars -- up by nearly 30 per cent compared to last year. In comparison, the number of male journalists in prison went up by only 11.2 per cent. Four countries have detained over 70 per cent of the imprisoned women journalists. These include China, with 19 women journalists in prison, followed by Iran (18), Myanmar (10) and Belarus (9). In Iran, 15 out of 18 women journalists in prison were arrested during the crackdown on protests over the death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who died in custody after being tortured by the country Guidance Patrol (morality police) for being 'dressed inappropriately'.

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