Committee to Protect Journalists: Number of Imprisoned Journalists in Iran Reaches 11
The Committee to Protect Journalists says the number of imprisoned journalists in Iran in 2019 has reached 11.
As the international body approached the final days of 2019, it prepared a report on the status of press workers around the world, with a section dedicated to Iran, stating that conditions for journalism in the country have worsened this year.
According to the report released Thursday, December 12, after China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, the countries of Eritrea, Vietnam, and Iran are considered among the world’s largest jailers of journalists.
The Committee to Protect Journalists mentioned in its report the November protests in Iran, during which internet access was cut off for the country’s population for about a week. The arrest of Mohammad Mosaed, a journalist, during those same days is another case covered in this report.
Mr. Mosaed, who was arrested for posting a tweet, was released after several weeks. In that tweet, he had written, “Hello free world!” and then said he used “42 different proxies” to post this tweet but none of them worked.
The Committee to Protect Journalists’ report says that at the end of this year, at least 250 journalists are imprisoned around the world, among which China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt have the worst conditions.
The report states that “authoritarian governments such as Xi Jinping (China), Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Turkey), Mohammed bin Salman (Saudi Arabia), and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (Egypt) show no signs of easing pressure on media critical of themselves”.
According to the report, Saudi Arabia also had “at least 26 imprisoned journalists in 2019 and for this reason, along with Egypt, is considered the third largest jailer of journalists”.
The Committee to Protect Journalists stated that “Saudi authorities do not even pretend to follow legal procedures, and in 18 ongoing cases in this country, the charges against individuals are not disclosed, and those who have been tried have had their sentences issued in secret and hastily”.
Source: Radio Farda
