Belarus has become one of the top five countries in the world in terms of imprisonment of journalists, writes Deutsche Welle, citing Reporters Without Borders. In addition, Belarus was the only state in the world with more female than male prisoners who represented media outlets.
The number of journalists arrested for their professional activities worldwide peaked in 2021. There are now 488 media professionals behind bars, a 20% increase from last year, Reporters Without Borders writes in its annual report. Such an increase is due to the deteriorating situation in Belarus, Myanmar, and China.
In Belarus, the number of journalists, victims of harassment, has increased 4.5 times for the year. Last year, there were seven arrested media workers, while now there are 32.
Belarus is also the only country with more women media professionals (17) than men (15) behind bars. They make up 9 out of 20 professional journalists and 8 out of 9 media employees, such as a director, manager, or lawyer.
Reporters Without Borders notes that these figures show that the Belarusian regime has abandoned the “traditional patriarchal tolerance of women” since women played a leading role in last year’s protests.
The first journalists convicted in Belarus were our colleagues, journalists Katsyaryna Andreyeva and Darya Chultsova.
Overall, according to Reporters Without Borders, the number of female journalists convicted worldwide has doubled over the past four years, reaching 60.
China ranks first in the world regarding the number of imprisoned journalists (127). In Myanmar, after the mass protests of 2021, 52 journalists were behind bars. Vietnam (43) and Saudi Arabia (31) are also in the top five countries with the most significant number of arrested journalists.
During the year, 46 journalists (42 men and four women) were killed worldwide. Of these, 30 were victims of premeditated murder, and 16 were killed in the line of duty. Reporters Without Borders notes that this is the lowest figure in almost 20 years.
This year, the most dangerous countries for journalists were Mexico, Afghanistan, India, Yemen, and Pakistan.
