Record number of journalists jailed worldwide in 2021: CPJ

The number of journalists jailed around the world hit a new record in 2021, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Thursday, with China and Myanmar having put a quarter of the 293 media workers behind bars.

In its annual report, the CPJ listed 50 journalists imprisoned in China, 26 in Burma, 25 in Egypt, 23 in Vietnam and 19 in Belarus.

Adding those jailed in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Russia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, the CPJ said a total of 293 journalists were in prison worldwide as of December 1 - up from 280 the year before.

“This is the sixth year in a row that CPJ has documented record numbers of journalists imprisoned around the world,” said Joel Simon, executive director of the group.

For 40 years, the CPJ has denounced journalists being murdered, imprisoned, censored, physically hurt and threatened.

The association also counted 24 journalists killed around the world this year.

Mexico remained the Western hemisphere’s deadliest country for journalists, with three murdered for their reporting and the motives for six other killings under investigation, the CPJ said.

India was also high on the list, with four journalists killed this year.

ARR