The number of journalists imprisoned in the Middle East and
Africa has shot up by 50 percent this year as governments cracked down on media
freedoms in the wake of Arab Spring uprisings.
Iran is the world’s leading jailor of writers, editors and
photojournalists, toppling China for the first time, found the annual census
survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
“While Iran’s 2009 post-election crackdown marked the
beginning of widespread press imprisonments there, authorities have maintained
a revolving cell door since that time,” the report from the New York agency
said.
“The volume of arrests, interrogations, and people out on
bail is enormous,” Omid Memarian, an exiled Iranian journalist was quoted as
saying. “Journalists know they should not touch critical subjects. It really affects
the way they cover news because they are under constant fear and intimidation.”
Journalists in Iran have been held under charges such as
treason, subversion or acting against national interests. At least 79 are
currently held on such charges in Iranian jails, CPJ said.
In total, 179 reporters were imprisoned worldwide this year,
compared to 145 in 2010. Eritrea, China, Burma, Vietnam, Syria, and Turkey also
ranked among the world’s leading jailors of journalists, CPJ said.
Ghanem Nuseibeh, founder at consultancy firm Cornerstone
Global Associates, said campaigns of anti-press intimidation would have a
negative economic impact on the countries involved.
“Most of those
arrests appear to be essentially due to opinions held by the journalists,” he
said. “In a world of open information, countries that feature high on the list
undermine the confidence people have in any information they put out. This not
only affects their political standing, but will inevitably impact on their
credibility in other areas, including economic development. There is a clear
correlation between FDI (foreign direct investment) and freedom of reporting.”
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