CPJ reports record number of journalists jailed worldwide in 2020
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An Oregon State Trooper arrests journalist Gabriel Trumbly during a crowd dispersal near the Portland east police precinct, Portland, Oregon, U.S., 30 August 2020, Nathan Howard/Getty Images At least 274 journalists were in jail in relation to their work on 1 December 2020. China was the world’s worst jailer for the second year in a row. It was followed by Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
This statement was originally published on cpj.org on 15 December 2020.
The number of journalists jailed globally because of their work hit a new high in 2020 as governments cracked down on coverage of COVID-19 or tried to suppress reporting on political unrest. Authoritarians again took cover in anti-press rhetoric from the United States.
Reporters in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran detained this year, according to two new reports
Protesters hold signs outside a courthouse in Istanbul where seven jailed journalists were on trial in September 2020 (AFP/File photo) By Published date: 15 December 2020 16:28 UTC | Last update: 3 months 3 weeks ago
Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia were among the countries to jail the most journalists in 2020, according to two reports released this week.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) published its annual global survey on Tuesday, which found that at least 274 journalists had been detained this year - up from a record high of 272 in 2016.