Palestinian journalists carry mock coffins of colleagues who were killed during the war in Gaza during a symbolic funeral toward a United Nations office, in the West Bank city of Ramallah
| Photo Credit: AP

Fifty-four journalists were killed worldwide while carrying out their work or because of their profession in 2024, a third of them by the Israeli army, according to an annual report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published Thursday (December 12, 2024).

According to the press freedom NGO, Israeli armed forces were responsible for the deaths of 18 journalists this year — 16 in Gaza and two in Lebanon.

“Palestine is the most dangerous country for journalists, recording a higher death toll than any other country over the past five years,” RSF said in its annual report, which covers data up to December 1.

The organisation has filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for “war crimes committed against journalists by the Israeli army.”

It said that in total “more than 145” journalists had been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since the start of the war there in October 2023, with 35 of them working at the time of their deaths, RSF said.

It described the number of killings as “an unprecedented bloodbath.”

IFJ reports 104 deaths

In a separate report published Tuesday, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reported that 104 journalists were killed worldwide in 2024, with more than half of them in Gaza.

The figures differ between the IFJ and RSF due to two different methodologies used in calculating the toll.

RSF only includes journalists whose deaths have been “proven to be directly related to their professional activity.”

Israel denies report

Israel denies that it intentionally harms journalists but admits that some have been killed in air strikes on military targets.

“We don’t accept these figures. We don’t believe they are correct,” Israeli government spokesman David Mercer told a press conference on Wednesday.

After Gaza, the deadliest places for journalists in 2024 were Pakistan with seven deaths, followed by Bangladesh and Mexico with five each.

In 2023, the number of journalists killed worldwide stood at 45 in the same January-December period.

Journalists arrested

As of December 1, there were 550 journalists imprisoned worldwide, compared to 513 last year, according to RSF figures.

The three countries with the highest numbers of detained journalists are China (124, including 11 in Hong Kong), Myanmar (61), and Israel (41).

Furthermore, 55 journalists are currently being held hostage, including two abducted in 2024. Nearly half — 25 in total — are in the hands of the Islamic State group.

In addition, 95 journalists are reported missing, including four new cases reported in 2024.

Women take part in a rally on the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini which prompted protests across the country, in Istanbul, Turkey on September 16, 2023. The Banner reads, “We revolt against the world for Mahsa Amini”.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Iran’s judiciary on October 22 announced lengthy jail sentences for two female journalists who were arrested after reporting on the death last year of Mahsa Amini, which sparked nationwide protests.

Elaheh Mohammadi, 36, and Niloufar Hamedi, 31, were both found guilty of collaboration with Iran’s arch enemy the United States, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.

In its ruling, the Revolutionary Court sentenced Ms. Mohammadi to six years in jail, and Ms. Hamedi was handed seven years in prison, said Mizan.

The pair were also each given five-year sentences for conspiring against state security and one for propaganda against the Islamic republic, the website said, adding that the sentences would be served concurrently.

Ms. Mohammadi, a reporter for Ham Mihan newspaper, and Ms. Hamedi, a photographer for Shargh newspaper, have been held in Tehran’s Evin prison since September 2022. Their trials started in May.

Ms. Hamedi was arrested less than a week after Amini’s death when she went to the hospital where the young woman was being treated and posted a photo of the grieving family on social media.

Ms. Mohammadi was arrested after going to Amini’s hometown of Saqez, in the western Iranian province of Kurdistan, to cover her funeral which turned into a demonstration.

The verdicts against Ms. Hamedi and Ms. Mohammadi, who were tried separately, are subject to appeal, Mizan said. Their lawyer has yet to react to the rulings.

In August, Iranian media reported that authorities had questioned or arrested more than 90 journalists since the protests triggered by Amini’s death in different cities erupted across the country.

Elaheh’s sister, Elnaz, also a journalist, was arrested and kept in Evin prison for a week in February and given a three-year suspended sentence in September.

On the first day of her trial, Ms. Hamedi told the court she had worked “as a journalist within the framework of the law and had not committed any act against the security of Iran”, according to comments reported by her husband, Mohammad Hossein Ajorlou, on social media.

Their trials were held behind closed doors and criticised by their families and lawyers.

International organisations defending journalists, such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF), have also condemned the trials and demanded their release.

In August, the judiciary said their trials were not only linked to Amini’s death but also to their alleged cooperation with the United States, according to the NGO United for Iran based in California.

Tehran and Washington severed diplomatic ties after the 1979 Islamic Revolution which toppled the US-backed shah.

The lawyer for the two journalists, Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi, was detained in early January for more than three weeks before being released on bail.

During the months-long Amini protests, several hundred people including security forces were killed and thousands were arrested over their participation in the demonstrations.

Seven men were also hanged over their links with the “riots”— the term Iranian officials use to describe the protests.

The latest court ruling follows the sentencing of Amini’s lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, last week to one year in prison for propaganda against the state and speaking with foreign and local media about the case.

In February, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei agreed to pardon or commute the sentences of a “significant number” of convicts, although Ms. Mohammadi and Ms. Hamedi were not among those released.