China Is The Biggest Jailer Of Journalists In The World, Turkey Next: Committee To Protect Journalists 

China is the biggest jailer of journalists in the world this year, according to a report released on Wednesday (Dec 11) by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

The CPJ describes itself as an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide and defending the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.

According to the report, atleast 250 journalists were incarcerated for their work around the world this year. After China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the biggest jailers are Eritrea, Vietnam and Iran.

China has reportedely jailed 48 journalists this year while Turkey, which imprisoned 47 journalists, was ranked second. After China and Turkey were Eritrea and Saudi Arabia, each with 26 instances of jailing journalists, followed by Vietnam with 12 and Iran with 11.

“A crackdown in Xinjiang province – where a million members of Muslim ethnic groups have been sent to internment camps – has led to the arrests of dozens of journalists, including some apparently jailed for journalistic activity years earlier,” the report stated.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying debunked the report saying it could not be taken seriously because U.S.-based institutions like CPJ have no credibility. In a news briefing Wednesday, she refused to confirm the number of detained journalists, but said that no one is above the law, whether they are reporters or civil servants.

The report showcased the recent case of Sophia Huang Xueqin, a freelancer who had been an investigative journalist for Chinese media. She was detained in October after writing about marching alongside pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong on her blog.

China is also accused of cracking down on media reporting on tits detention of roughly one million members of Uighur and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang province in prison camps.

The report added that “authoritarianism, instability, and protests” in the Middle East led to an increase in imprisoned journalists throughout the region.