A report put up by Reporters without Frontiers shows that 86 journalists were killed last year in various corners of the world. The balance is even more sad considering that this is the highest level in the past 13 years. The Reporters without Frontiers say that the authors of the over 80 murders were not found or didn't suffer any penalty. For the fifth year in a row, Iraq leads in the number of killings, with 47 victims, followed by Somalia (8 victims), Pakistan (6) and Sri Lanka (3).
Other 67 journalists were kidnapped in 15 countries. At the end of 2007, 135 journalists were in jails, while the number of arrested journalists reached 887. The largest prisons dedicated exclusively for journalists are found in China and Cuba.
65 journalists are currently imprisoned because of the censorship practiced in the home countries, despite the fact that their articles were published on the Internet. Countries with such cases include China, Myanmar, Syria and Iran.
