Egypt, Worst African Country for Journalists- CPJ Report

The Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) has slammed in a recent report Egypt for being the African country with the most journalists in jail.

The CPJ deplored that of the 20 journalists behind bars in Egypt, a dozen had not been convicted or sentenced for any crime.

“The prolonged imprisonment of Egyptian journalists comes as President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi battles deadly extremism and high unemployment in the country, and as Cairo and Washington cooperate closely on security,” the report explained.

In Egypt and China, like Turkey, by far the most common type of charge against journalists is anti-state, the document noted.

The number of journalists imprisoned worldwide hit another new record in 2017, and for the second consecutive year more than half of those jailed for their work are behind bars in Turkey, China, and Egypt, the CPJ said, adding that this pattern reflects a dismal failure by the international community to address a global crisis in freedom of the press.