CPJ Says Record 232 Reporters Jailed Worldwide

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says a record 232 journalists are imprisoned worldwide.

In a report released on December 11, the U.S.-based press-freedom group says NATO-member Turkey is the world's biggest jailer of reporters, with 49 behind bars.

It says the second-worst jailer is Iran, with 45 jailed, while China is third, with 32 imprisoned journalists, 19 of them Tibetans or Uyghurs, whose communities have been seeking separation from Beijing.

The total of 232 imprisoned reporters is 53 more than the CPJ recorded last year and is the highest since the organization began conducting worldwide surveys in 1990.

The report says the most common charges that governments use to jail reporters include terrorism, treason, and subversion, with at least 132 journalists detained worldwide on such charges.

With reporting by AP