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.