This estimated number, the largest of the 370 jailed journalists recorded in 2022, “should be a warning signal,” Jodie Ginsberg, head of this American non-governmental organization that defends media freedom, said in a statement.
As of December 1, China held 50 journalists in its prisons, Israel 43, and Myanmar 35, the non-governmental organization announced, condemning “three of the worst criminals on the planet”, according to France Presse.
CPJ notes that “pervasive censorship” in China makes it difficult to make an accurate assessment of the country and points to an increase in the number of Hong Kong journalists imprisoned, such as media mogul Jimmy Lai, who has been in prison since late 2020.
Israel, a country with a multi-party democratic system unlike the PRC, is at the top of this ranking after the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the fall of 2023.
Israel “has catapulted itself into second place by storming coverage of topics from the occupied Palestinian territories,” notes the New York-based non-governmental organization.
“These include banning foreign journalists from entering (Gaza) and banning Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera from operating in Israel and the occupied West Bank,” CPJ wrote.
The number of journalists detained in Israel and the Palestinian territories has more than doubled in a year. With 43 journalists captured so far, all of whom are Palestinians, Israel is now ranked, according to the non-governmental organization, ahead of Myanmar with 35, Belarus with 31 and Russia with 30 imprisoned journalists.
“The increase in attacks on journalists almost always precedes the attack on other freedoms: freedom of publication and access to information, freedom of movement and assembly, freedom of protest…”, worried Jodie Ginsberg.
The most affected continent is Asia.
“Journalists who wanted to expose corruption and crimes or the devastating impact of climate change on local populations have found themselves behind bars,” warns Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia director.
(Vijesti.ba / HINA)
