Around 320 journalists were in prison at the end of 2023 because of their work. This emerges from a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists. The organization registered more than a third of all cases in China, Myanmar and Belarus.
At the end of 2023, an estimated 320 media professionals were imprisoned because of their work. This emerges from a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists. This is the second highest figure since the US organization began recording the number of imprisoned journalists annually in 1992.
The committee identified 367 such cases for 2022. The number has fallen primarily because many of those affected in Iran have been temporarily released. According to the December 2023 survey, more than a third of the detentions took place in China, Myanmar and Belarus.
Israel ranked sixth along with Iran on the list of countries with the highest number of imprisoned journalists. According to the committee, all 17 media workers in Israeli custody at the time of the count were Palestinians who were detained in the West Bank at the start of the war between Israel and the militant Islamist Hamas on October 7.
17 journalists imprisoned as foreigners
Twelve of the 17 journalists worldwide who do not come from the operational area in which they were detained are being held in Russia, it said. This included, among others, Evan Gershkovich, a US reporter for the Wall Street Journal. He was arrested in March 2023 on espionage charges.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is a non-governmental organization based in New York. She advocates for freedom of the press and the human rights of journalists worldwide.