More than 200 journalists have been imprisoned in various prisons across the world over their work, a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists has said.
According to the report, by December 2019, some 250 journalists were in various prisons compared to 255 last year in the same period.
The report indicates the highest number of journalists imprisoned in any year since CPJ began keeping track is 273 in 2016.
The report ranks China and Turkey as the worst jailers of journalists.
This is followed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Eritrea, Vietnam, and Iran respectively.
“While majority of journalists imprisoned worldwide face anti-state charges, in line with recent years, the number charged with “false news” rose to 30 compared with 28 last year,” the report indicates.
According the report, 98 per cent of the journalists jailed worldwide are locals covering their own country.
“Sixty six per cent of these journalists are detained on anti-state charges, 12 per cent on false news charges and 13 per cent detained on retaliatory charges,” the report indicates.
While 27 per cent of those detained have health problems, the report reveals that 23 per cent of them are detained without any charge.
The report reveals that three of the four journalists with foreign citizenship are imprisoned in Saudi Arabia, and the fourth in China.
This article was originally published on The Star.
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