Two hundred and seventy-four journalists were jailed in relation to their work globally this year according to the annual global survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The record number of affected journalists’ exceeding 272 in 2016 as at December 1 followed arrests of many covering COVID-19 or political `instability by authoritarian nations.
“ Amid the pandemic, governments delayed trials, restricted visitors, and disregarded the increased health risk in prison; at least two journalists died after contracting the disease in custody,” the CPJ stated in its report December 15 report released in New York.
“China, which arrested several journalists for their coverage of the pandemic, was the world’s worst jailer for the second year in a row. It was followed by Turkey, which continues to try journalists free on parole and arrest new ones; Egypt, which went to great lengths to keep custody of journalists not convicted of any crime; and Saudi Arabia.
“Countries where the number of jailed journalists rose significantly include Belarus, where mass protests have ensued over the disputed re-election of the long-time president, and Ethiopia, where political unrest has degenerated into armed conflict.”
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No Nigerian journalist was jailed this year according to the report, but some African countries including Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco, Mali, Eritrea, South Sudan, Burundi, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Algeria had a number of journalists being held behind bars.
This year’s report marks the fifth consecutive year that repressive governments have imprisoned at least 250 journalists.
“Lack of global leadership on democratic values – particularly from the United States, where President Donald Trump has inexhaustibly denigrated the press and cozied up to dictators such as Egyptian President Abdelfattah el-Sisi – has perpetuated the crisis.
“As authoritarians leveraged Trump’s “fake news” rhetoric to justify their actions – particularly in Egypt – the number of journalists jailed on “false news” charges steadily increased. This year, 34 journalists were jailed for “false news,” compared with 31 last year,” the report stated.
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