Monitoring Desk: India, with seven journalists in jail, tops the list of countries subjugating Freedom of the Press in South Asia, says the latest report of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released on December 14, 2022.
According to the report, India continues to draw criticism over its treatment of the media, in particular its use of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, a preventive detention law, to keep Kashmiri journalists Aasif Sultan, Fahad Shah, and Sajad Gul behind bars after they were granted court-ordered bail in separate cases.
Here’re the key findings:
The number of journalists jailed around the world set yet another record in 2022. In a year marked by conflict and repression, authoritarian leaders doubled down on their criminalization of independent reporting, deploying increasing cruelty to stifle dissenting voices and undermine press freedom.
As of December 1, 2022, 363 reporters were deprived of their freedom – a new global high that overtakes last year’s record by 20%
This year’s top five jailers of journalists are from Iran, China, Myanmar, Turkey, and Belarus, respectively.
India, with seven journalists in jail, continues to remain at a record high for the second consecutive year since CPJ began its prison census in 1992
India Continues to draw criticism over its treatment of the media, in particular its use of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, a preventive detention law, to keep Kashmiri journalists Aasif Sultan, Fahad Shah, and Sajad Gul behind bars after they were granted court-ordered bail in separate cases.
Six out of seven journalists are being investigated under/charged under the terrorism-related Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)
Three journalists have been in jail for more than a year.
