Belarus ranks third in the world in terms of the number of imprisoned journalists, according to the annual report of the human rights organization Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Three countries account for more than a third of the world’s imprisoned journalists. According to CPJ, as of December 1, 2023, 320 journalists were behind bars in the world: 44 of them in China, 43 in Myanmar (former Burma) and 28 in Belarus. Next on the list are Russia (22) and Vietnam (19).
At the same time, the population of China is 1.4 billion people, Myanmar is about 55 million, Belarus is about 9 million, Russia is about 145 million, Vietnam is about 100 million. Thus, in terms of the number of imprisoned journalists per capita, Belarus has the worst indicator in the world.
The CPJ report notes that for the first time Israel was among the leaders in the number of imprisoned journalists — there were 17 imprisoned journalists there as of December 1, 2023. According to the authors of the report, this figure is generated by the practice of administrative detention in the West Bank, and this practice increased during the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
