Washington (AFP)

At least 250 journalists are behind bars in the world, first in China, one of the authoritarian regimes that do not tolerate the independence of the media, said Wednesday an NGO for press freedom.

Many of these journalists are accused of being "enemies of the state" or of having issued "false news", noted the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), based in New York.

He cited Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, Vietnam and Iran as other countries where to perform this job is particularly risky.

CPJ has identified at least 48 journalists jailed in China, one more than in 2018.

Turkey follows with 47. It is much less than in 2018 (68), but not really an improvement, the government having managed to close more than a hundred media, and launched prosecution for apology of terrorism that have made losing their job or intimidating many reporters.

"Dozens of journalists who are not detained in Turkey are still awaiting trial or appeal, while others have been sentenced in absentia and threatened with arrest if they return to their country" stressed the Committee.

On this podium are also Saudi Arabia and Egypt, with 26 journalists jailed in each of the two countries.

In the kingdom, 18 of them are incarcerated without knowing what is being blamed on them, and CPJ is worried about cases of "beating, burning and inadequate food for political prisoners, including four journalists. ".

The world total of 250 remains too high according to CPJ, even if it is less than the 255 of 2018, and 273 of 2016.

Among the iconic cases, the NGO cited the Chinese Sophia Huang Xueqin, arrested in October after writing about her participation in pro-democracy parades in Hong Kong, or the Egyptian Mohammad Mosaed, who had sent a tweet during a cut of the internet to limit the spread of news on a demonstration against fuel prices.

© 2019 AFP