More than half of imprisoned journalists in Russia worked in Crimea -CPJ

“Russia had seven journalists in custody, four of them because of their work in occupied Crimea documenting the Crimean Tatar minority population and Russian attacks on them”, as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in its annual report on press freedom.

“The number of journalists imprisoned globally for their work in 2019 remained near record highs, as China tightened its iron grip on the press and Turkey, having stamped out virtually all independent reporting, released journalists awaiting trial or appeal. Authoritarianism, instability, and protests in the Middle East led to a rise in the number of journalists locked up in the region -- particularly in Saudi Arabia, which is now on par with Egypt as the third worst jailer worldwide. n its annual global survey, the Committee to Protect Journalists found at least 250 journalists in jail in relation to their work, compared with an adjusted 255 a year earlier. The highest number of journalists imprisoned in any year since CPJ began keeping track is 273 in 2016. After China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, the worst jailers are Eritrea, Vietnam, and Iran”.

 CPJ considers all persons who make news or comment on civil issues in any mass media, including online media, that’s why Nariman Memedeminov, Crimean blogger who was correspondent for Crimea.Realities (RFE/RL) got to the list of jailed journalists. The lists does not include Stanislav Aseyev, correspondent for RFE/RL who has been imprisoned in Donetsk, because the CPJ does not take into account journalists who have been captured by non-state actors.

Photo credit: CPJ