Over 500 journalists Celebrated New Year in Prison.
A total of 547 journalists globally have spent New Year’s Eve in prison, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), with some 779 jailed at some point in 2023.
China, Myanmar, Belarus, and Vietnam are the four biggest jailers of media personnel.
Between them, these countries hold more than half of the world’s imprisoned journalists, according to an RSF release to the Ghana Public Media.
Read: Master Prophet Nigel Gaisie Droped 20 Properties
The sentences passed on women journalists broke records in 2023, with the victims, including Elaheh Mohammadi and Niloofar Hamedi, sentenced to 12 and 13 years in prison, respectively, in Iran.
They included Maryna Zolatava, Liudmila Chekina and Valeriya Kastsiuhova, icons of independent journalism in Belarus, whose sentences ranged from 1012 years.
They included Burundi’s Floriane Irangabiye, one of the few women journalists jailed in sub-Saharan Africa, who was given a 10-year sentence.
Reporters Without Borders continues to deploy appropriate strategies to help obtain freedom.
Fewer journalists have been imprisoned this year than last. We will continue to fight tirelessly every day, assisted by our correspondents in more than 130 countries, to free these women and men who have been jailed simply for trying to tell us what is happening.
Read: 20 Prophecies by Prophet Nigel Gaisie
Anne Bocande, Editorial Director of RSF, said, “Each journalist in prison is a journalist prevented from working. It’s also a journalist who will be intimidated in the future. And it’s hundreds or even thousands of colleagues feeling the threat of imprisonment hanging over them.”
In Ghana, the journalist Noah Dameh has been remanded in custody.
Dameh was summoned in May 2022 upon a defamation complaint by ElectroChem Ghana Limited (EGL), a salt mining company based in Ada. The complaint followed a Facebook publication in which the journalist accused the police of abusing the rights of one Benjamin Anim by chaining him to his hospital bed.
He also claimed the abuse was on the orders of Daniel Mckorley, the owner of EGL.
In December 2022, the Tema Magistrate Court dismissed the case only for the police to re-arrest Dameh on false publication charges. He was remanded in custody on March 30, 2023, at the request of the prosecutor who said his surety had failed to produce him in court on three previous occasions.
Read: KNUST Admission Admission list for Frenchman
“So, millions’ right to news and information could be violated. Behind these statistics, there are human tragedies and political consequences.
Together, let’s keep helping those who risk their freedom by trying to keep us abreast of developments in their countries. Your support is essential, and I thank you for it.”
Send Stories | Social Media | Disclaimer
Send Stories and Articles for publication to [email protected]
We Are Active On Social Media
WhatsApp Channel: JOIN HERE
2024 BECE and WASSCE Channel - JOIN HERE
Facebook: JOIN HERE
Telegram: JOIN HERE
Twitter: FOLLOW US HERE
Instagram: FOLLOW US HERE
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post on Ghana Education News is for general information purposes only. While we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.