More Journalists are Imprisoned in China, Middle East, Advocates Say – By Horus Alas (US News) / Dec 15 2020
The pandemic didn’t decrease the rate at which journalists are jailed around the world, according to new reports.
IN A YEAR THAT witnessed a crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong, China has detained more journalists in 2020 than any other country, extending a role it assumed last year, two leading media rights groups say in studies published this week.
The reports, published on Tuesday by the Committee to Protect Journalists and on Monday by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), found Asia and the Middle East to be the most challenging regions of the world for journalists to operate freely.
According to RSF – Reporters Sans Frontieres, the organization’s original French name – the top five countries for imprisoning journalists in 2020 were China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Vietnam and Syria, which collectively accounted for 61% of the 387 journalists they had documented behind bars as of Dec. 1. RSF said at least 117 journalists were detained in China this year.
