Iran’s Evin Prison

The Committee to Protect Journalists names the ten worst countries in the world to be a blogger.

Burma tops the list — Burmese blogger Maung Thura is serving a 59-year prison sentence for disseminating video footage after Cyclone Nargis last year.

Runner-up Iran has ordered all bloggers to register their sites with the government, and has created a special prosecutor’s office to work with the intelligence service on internet issues. Blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi, jailed for insulting the Ayatollahs and denigrating Islam, died in Iran’s notorious Evin prison last month.

In 2008, more bloggers were imprisoned than any other category of journalist.

“The power and influence of this new generation of online journalists has captured the attention of repressive governments around the world, and they have accelerated their counterattack,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.

Following Burma and Iran on CPJ’s list are Syria, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Tunisia, China, Turkmenistan, and Egypt.