Iran International:

Iran was among the world’s top jailers of journalists this year, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in its annual report published on Tuesday, behind China, Russia and Myanmar.

Following the top three, RSF listed the next biggest jailers in order as Belarus, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Iran, Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia. 21 journalists are currently imprisoned in Iran, it added, and one remains missing.

“This is where impunity for these crimes leads us,” RSF Director General Thibaut Bruttin said in a statement.

“The failure of international organizations that are no longer able to ensure journalists’ right to protection in armed conflicts is the consequence of a global decline in the courage of governments, which should be implementing protective public policies,” it added.

The report dedicates separate sections to journalists working in war zones, including Russia, Ukraine, Sudan and Syria, warning that these environments have become increasingly deadly.

“About 43% of the journalists slain in the past 12 months were killed in Gaza by Israeli armed forces. In Ukraine, the Russian army continues to target foreign and Ukrainian reporters. Sudan has also emerged as an exceptionally deadly war zone for news professionals,” the report said.

Go to link