Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Thursday said a record of 533 journalists are currently being detained, in 2022 while, the number of journalists killed rose to 57.
The published report is its annual report of journalists killed, detained, held hostage, or missing.
The publication copied to the Ghana News Agency shows that within the same period, 65 journalists are now classified as held hostage and 49 as missing.
It identified an emerging trend of women now accounting for nearly 15 percent of detained journos, as against only seven per cent five years ago.
Two of the women detained in Iran, Nilufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, are facing a possible death penalty for helping to draw attention to the fate of Mahsa Amini, the young woman, whose death has triggered a big wave of protests in Iran.
The Round-up also looks at some of the year’s most striking cases, such as that of Ivan Safronov, one of Russia’s best investigative journalists, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison, the longest jail sentence registered by RSF in 2022; and Dom Phillips, a British journalist, whose dismembered body was found in a remote part of the Brazilian Amazon.
Catherine Monnet, Chief Editor of RSF said “As you can see, the need for our work defending journalists and the right to reliable, verified news and information is greater than ever. To achieve this, your commitment is a decisive asset.”