262 journos behind bars worldwide
The number of journalists incarcerated for their work hit a new record this year and for the second consecutive year more than half of them are in jails of Turkey, China and Egypt, says a special report of the Committee to Protect Journalist.
The CPJ found 262 journalists behind bars around the world, three more than last year's number.
Turkey, China and Egypt combined jailed 134 (51 percent) of them, reveals the report released yesterday.
"The pattern reflects a dismal failure by the international community to address a global crisis in freedom of the press," it read.
According to the report, nearly three-quarters of journalists (194 or 74 percent) were jailed on anti-state charges. The number imprisoned on charges of reporting “false news” rose to a record 21.
The CPJ said governments used the broad and vaguely worded terror laws to intimidate critical journalists into silence.
“Far from isolating repressive countries for their authoritarian behaviour, the United States, in particular, has cozied up to strongmen such as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Chinese President Xi Jinping. At the same time, President Donald Trump's nationalistic rhetoric, fixation on Islamic extremism, and insistence on labelling critical media 'fake news' serves to reinforce the framework of accusations and legal charges that allow such leaders to preside over the jailing of journalists,” it read.
Of the total imprisoned journalists, 22 (8 percent) are female while freelancers account for 75 cases (29 percent), mentions the report.
It says despite releasing some journalists this year, Turkey remains the world's worst jailer for the second consecutive year. Turkey incarcerated 73 journalists, compared of 81 last year.
"Dozens more still face trial, and fresh arrests take place regularly," the report said.
In China, the CPJ discovered that the number of journalists behind bars rose to 41 from 38 from a year earlier. On a visit to Beijing in November, Trump made no public reference to human rights, despite an ongoing crackdown that has led to the arrests of Chinese journalists, activists, and lawyers, the report said.
It revealed that the number of imprisoned journalists in Egypt dropped to 20 from 25 of last year but more than half of them were in poor health.
Among them is photographer Mahmoud Abou Zeid, known as Shawkan, who was arrested while covering a violent dispersal of protesters by Egyptian security forces and has been in pretrial detention for more than four years.
He and his 738 co-accused are charged with possessing weapons, illegal assembly, attempted murder, and murder, according to the CPJ report.
The CPJ said 35 journalists had been jailed across the world without any publicly disclosed charge.
"Lack of due process in some countries results in such a dearth of information that it's nearly impossible for the CPJ to determine what landed a journalist in jail, whether they have any health problems, and sometimes even whether they are alive."
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