Report: Record number of journalists jailed in 2020
At least 110 journalists were arrested or criminally charged in the United States this year, the Committee to Protect Journalists said, citing the Press Freedom Tracker.
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Dec. 15 (UPI) A record number of journalists were jailed for their work in 2020, according to a report published Tuesday, with China responsible for jailing more journalists than any other nation.
The annual census of data collected by the Committee to Protect Journalists shows that at least 274 journalists were in prisons worldwide as of Dec. 1 for charges connected to their coverage the most since CPJ began collecting such data in the early 1990s.
China jails the most journalists for second year running Helen Davidson in Taipei
China is the world’s leading jailer of journalists for the second year in a row, according to an annual survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which also found that 2020 was a record year for the number of journalists imprisoned globally.
As of 1 December at least 247 journalists were behind bars in relation to their work, according to the CPJ survey. This figure does not include those who had been arrested and released, paroled, or assaulted in the course of performing their duties.
China jailed at least 47 journalists in 2020, 10 more than in Turkey, where journalists continue to be sent to prison despite a fall in numbers since the 2016 attempted coup.
China jailed at least 47 journalists in 2020, 10 more than in Turkey, where journalists continue to be sent to prison despite a fall in numbers since the 2016 attempted coup.
Journalists were also targeted in Belarus, with dozens arrested, including at least 10 still in jail on 1 December, the first time jailed journalists have been recorded in the CPJ survey since 2014. At least seven were jailed in Ethiopia, mostly accused of anti-state crimes. Fifteen journalists were in jail as of 1 December in Iran, where on 12 December Ruhollah Zam was executed, having faced 17 charges including espionage and spreading false news abroad.
Among the journalists jailed in China, several are serving long sentences or are being held without charge. Some have not been heard from in some time, or are known to be held in horrific conditions, including those arrested for reporting on the Wuhan lockdown. Many are accused of espionage.
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