List of imprisoned, detained and missing journalists

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

This list encompasses imprisoned, detained and missing journalists around the world.

Imprisoned

List of journalists who were imprisoned:

• Reubin Clein (1905–1989) – American journalist imprisoned in Florida in 1950 ^[1]
• M. A. Farber – American journalist imprisoned in New York City in 1978 ^[1]
• Evan Gershkovich (born 1991) – American journalist imprisoned in 2023 in Russia ^[2]
• Brian Karem (born 1961) – American journalist imprisoned in Texas in 1990 ^[1]
• Alsu Kurmasheva (born 1976), Russian-American journalist imprisoned in Russia in 2023 ^[3]
• Vanessa Leggett (born 1968) – American journalist detained by U.S. federal judge for failing to disclose sources ^[1]
• Judith Miller (born 1948) – American journalist imprisoned in Washington, D.C., for refusing to testify against sources ^[1]
• Jason Rezaian (born 1976) – Iranian-American journalist imprisoned in Iran from 2014 to 2016 ^[4]
• Steven Sotloff (1983–2014) – American-Israeli journalist imprisoned in Iran in 2013 and killed in 2014 by ISIS ^[5]
• Jim Taricani (1949–2019) – American politician imprisoned in Rhode Island in 2004 ^[1]
• Marie Torre (1924–1997) – American journalist imprisoned in New York in 1958 ^[1]
• Ali Ünal (born 1955) – Turkish journalist who was imprisoned in 2018 ^[6]
• Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada – American journalists imprisoned in California ^[1]
• Josh Wolf (born 1982) – American journalist imprisoned in California ^[1]

Detained

List of journalists who were detained:

• Maziar Bahari (born 1967) – Iranian journalist who was detained in 2009 ^[7]
• Amy Goodman (born 1957) – American journalist detained following protest ^[8]
• Austin Tice (born 1981) – American journalist detained without trial in Syria in 2012 ^[9]

Missing

List of journalists whose current whereabouts are unknown, or whose deaths are unsubstantiated:

• Tokbergen Abiyev – Kazakh journalist who staged his own abduction ^[10]
• Kazem Akhavan – Iranian photojournalist who went missing in 1982 ^[11]
• Isam al-Shumari – German journalist who went missing in 2004 ^[11]
• Muhammad al-Maqaleh Aleshteraki – Yemeni journalist who went missing in 2009 ^[11]
• Ali Astamirov – Chechen journalist who went missing in 2003 ^[12]
• Jaime Ayala – Peruvian journalist who went missing in 1986 ^[13]
• Adama Bayala – Burkinabé journalist who went missing in 2024 ^[14]
• Andrei Bazvluk – Ukrainian journalist who went missing in 1996 ^[11]
• Ambrose Bierce (born 1842) – American journalist who went missing in 1913 ^[15]
• Jean Bigirimana – Burundian journalist who went missing in 2016 ^[16]
• Gamaliel López Candanosa – Mexican journalist who went missing in 2007 ^[11]
• María Esther Aguilar Cansimbe – Mexican journalist who went missing in 2009 ^[17]
• Causeway Bay Books disappearances, five staff members from Hong Kong bookstore went missing in 2015 ^[18]
• Moisés Sánchez Cerezo – Mexican journalist who went missing in 2015 ^[19]
• Pirouz Davani (born 1961) – Iranian journalist who went missing in 1998 ^[20]
• Prageeth Eknaligoda – Sri Lankan journalist ^[21]
• Joey Estriber – Filipino journalist ^[21]
• Jesús Medina Ezaine – Venezuelan photojournalist who went missing in 2017 ^[22]
• Bashar Fahmi – Jordanian national journalist who went missing in 2012 ^[23]
• Irma Flaquer (born 1938) – Guatemalan journalist who went missing in 1980 ^[24]
• Sean Flynn (born 1941) – American photojournalist declared missing in Cambodia in 1970 ^[25]
• José Antonio García – Mexican journalist who went missing in 2006 ^[17]
• Azory Gwanda – Tanzanian journalist who went missing in 2017 ^[26]
• Mohamed Hassaïne (born 1945) – Algerian journalist who went missing in 1994 ^[11]
• Reda Helal – Egyptian journalist who went missing in 2003 ^[27]
• Jodi Huisentruit (born 1968) – American journalist who went missing in 1995 and was declared dead in 2001 ^[28]
• Sergei Ivanov – Russian journalist who went missing in 1995 ^[11]
• Lukin Johnston (1887–1933) – Canadian journalist who went missing following an interview with Adolf Hitler in 1933 ^[29]
• Jamshid Karimov (born 1967) – Uzbekistani journalist who went missing in 2006 ^[30]
• Guy-André Kieffer (born 1949) – French-Canadian journalist who wet missing in 2004 ^[11]
• Acquitté Kisembo – French journalist who went missing in 2003 ^[11]
• John Lake (born 1930) – American journalist who went missing in 1967 ^[31]
• Frank Lenz (born 1867) – American bicyclist and photojournalist went missing near the Ottoman Empire in 1894 ^{[32] [33]}
• Pirí Lugones (1925–1978) – Argentine journalist who went missing in 1977 ^[34]
• Ebrima Manneh (born 1978) – Gambian journalist who was held secretly in custody in 2006 ^[35]
• Rafael Ortiz Martínez – Mexican journalist who went missing in 2006 ^[11]
• Primitivo Mijares (born 1931) – Filipino journalist who went missing in 1977 ^[36]
• Belmonde Magloire Missinhoun – Congolese journalist who went missing in 1998 ^[11]
• Alfredo Jiménez Mota (born 1980) – Mexican journalist who went missing in 2005 ^[37]
• Manasse Mugabo – Rwandan journalist who went missing in 1995 ^[11]
• Emmanuel Munyemanzi – Rwandan journalist who went missing in 1998 ^[11]
• Milan Nepali – Nepalese journalist ^[21]
• Frédéric Nérac (born 1960) – French journalist who went missing in 2003 ^[11]
• Juanita Nielsen (born 1937) – Australian journalist ^[21]
• Vadivel Nimalarajah – Sri Lankan journalist ^[21]
• Oralgaisha Omarshanova (born 1968) – Kazakh journalist who went missing in 2007 ^[38]
• Serge Oulon – Burkinabé journalist who went missing in 2024 ^[14]
• Madan Paudel – Nepalese journalist ^[21]
• Oleksandr Panych – Ukrainian journalist who went missing in 2002 ^[11]
• Charlotte Peet – British journalist who went missing in Brazil in 2025 ^[39]
• Gerardo Paredes Pérez – Mexican journalist who went missing in 2007 ^[11]
• Yelena Petrova – Ukrainian journalist who went missing in 1996 ^[11]
• Zane Plemmons (born 1982) – Mexican-American journalist who went missing in 2012 ^[40]
• Subramaniam Ramachandran, Sri Lankan journalist ^[21]
• Ahmed Rilwan (1986–2014) – Maldivian journalist ^[21]
• Sergio Landa Rosado – Mexican journalist who went missing in 2013 ^[41]
• Victoria Roshchyna (1996–2024) – Ukrainian journalist declared missing in 2023 and confirmed dead in 2024 ^[42]
• Maksim Shabalin – Russian journalist who went missing in 1995 ^[11]
• Zeenat Shahzadi – Pakistani journalist ^[21]
• Vitaly Shevchenko – Ukrainian journalist who went missing in 1996 ^[11]
• Chitra Narayan Shrestha – Nepalese journalist ^[21]
• Andrew Shumack – American journalist who went missing in 1995 ^[11]
• Djuro Slavuj – Kosovan journalist who went missing in 1998 ^[11]
• Feliks Titov – Russian journalist who went missing in 1995 ^[11]
• Kalifara Séré – Burkinabé journalist who went missing in 2024 ^[14]
• Jonathan Spollen (born 1983) – Irish journalist who went missing in 2012 ^[43]
• Dana Stone (born 1939) – American photojournalist declared missing in Cambodia in 1970 ^[25]
• Rodolfo Rincón Taracena – Mexican journalist who went missing in 2007 ^[11]
• Elyuddin Telaumbanua – Indonesian journalist who went missing in 2005 ^[11]
• Prakash Singh Thakuri – Nepalese journalist ^[21]
• Moataz Wadnan – Egyptian journalist who went missing in 2021 ^[44]
• Susan Walsh (born 1960) – American journalist who disappeared from New York in 1996 ^[45]
• Mauricio Estrada Zamora – Mexican journalist who went missing in 2008 ^[17]
• Evaristo Ortega Zárate – Mexican journalist who went missing in 2010 ^[46]
• Dzmitry Zavadski (born 1972) – Belarusian journalist who went missing in 2000 ^[47]
• Jarosław Ziętara (born 1968) – Polish journalist who went missing in 1992 ^[48]

See also

• List of Americans wrongfully imprisoned or detained abroad

Further reading

• 2024 ROUND-UP: Journalists killed, detained, held hostage and missing (EN/RU/UK)
• World Abuses Barometer by Reporters Without Borders

References

1. "Journalists Jailed or Fined for Refusing to Identify Confidential Sources, as of 2019". Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
2. Walker, Shaun (July 19, 2024). "Russian court sentences US journalist Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison". The Guardian . Retrieved May 3, 2025.
3. Sauer, Pjotr (July 22, 2024). "Russian-American journalist jailed by Moscow for six-and-a-half years". The Guardian . Retrieved May 3, 2025.
4. Pearson, Michel; Labott, Elise (January 16, 2016). "5 Americans Released by Iran, 4 as Part of Prisoner Swap". CNN . Retrieved May 2, 2025.
5. Callimachi, Rukmini (October 25, 2014). "The Horror Before the Beheadings". The New York Times . Retrieved May 2, 2025.
6. "Former Zaman Daily Columnist Ali Ünal Arrested". bianet.org. August 16, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
7. "Maziar Bahari's Ordeal in Tehran Prison". Newsweek . March 13, 2010. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
8. Grueskin, Caroline (October 13, 2016). "Defense Attorney Questions Prosecutor in Amy Goodman Case". Bismarck Tribune. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
9. Debra and Marc Tice (August 13, 2014). "Austin Tice, Two Years Later". The Washington Post . Retrieved May 2, 2025.
10. ""Missing" Journalist Reappears, But Freedom of Information Doesn't". Reporters Without Borders. January 7, 2013. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
11. "Journalists Missing 1982–2009". The UN Refugee Agency. December 2009. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
12. "AFP Correspondent Ali Astamirov Kidnapped Exactly Two Years Ago in Ingushetia". RFS.org. July 4, 2005. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
13. "Trial is scheduled for disappearance of journalist in Peru after a 37-year wait". LatAm Journalism Review by the Knight Center. January 10, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
14. "Three journalists disappear, 3 media outlets suspended in Burkina Faso". Committee to Protect Journalists. July 3, 2024. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
15. Hays, Holly V. (September 28, 2021). "The Mysterious Disappearance of Hoosier Author Ambrose Bierce". The Indianapolis Star . Retrieved May 2, 2025.
16. Mumo, Muthoki (August 12, 2021). "When Burundian Journalist Jean Bigirimana Disappeared, Hs Colleagues Tried to Solve The Case". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
17. "Journalist Missing for One Week in Michoacán State". November 19, 2009. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
18. Jenkins, Nash (January 8, 2016). "The E.U. Has Called for an Investigation Into the Missing Hong Kong Booksellers". Time . Retrieved May 2, 2025.
19. "Family says Mexican journalist seized by armed men". The Associated Press. January 3, 2015. Archived from the original on January 5, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
20. "Iranian journalist Pirouz Davani, missing for 5 years, is glaring case of impunity". Reporters Without Borders . August 29, 2003. Archived from the original on August 1, 2022.
21. Bay, Web (August 29, 2016). "Enforced journalist disappearances: IFJ counts the missing days / IFJ". IFJ. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
22. "Venezuelan Photographer Goes Missing Following Threats". Committee to Protect Journalists. November 6, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
23. "Bashar Fahmi". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
24. "Former Journalist Kidnapped". The Sun News. October 18, 1980. p. 2. Retrieved May 2, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
25. "Actor's Son Among 5 Believed Cong Captives". Miami Herald . April 8, 1970. p. 5. Retrieved May 2, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
26. "Journalist Reported Missing in Tanzania". Fox News . December 4, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
27. Campagna, Joel; Labidi, Kamel. "The Forgotten Man: CPJ Special Report". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
28. Link, Bob (May 15, 2001). "Court Declares Jodi Huisentruit Legally Dead". The Globe Gazette. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
29. Obee, Dave (June 29, 2014). "Biography Lifts Journalist from Obscurity". Times Colonist. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
30. Peuch, Jean-Christophe (September 27, 2006). "Uzbekistan: Concerns Grow Over Missing, Jailed Journalists". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty . Retrieved May 2, 2025.
31. Barry, Dan (August 24, 2005). "The Father Who Never Came Home". The New York Times . Retrieved May 2, 2025.
32. "Frank Lenz Missing". The Lancaster Examiner. December 12, 1894. p. 1. Retrieved May 2, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
33. "A lens on Lenz on the South Side - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Archived from the original on May 18, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
34. Lamiman, Kevin (September 9, 1978). "Carter Has Drawn Attention to Human Rights Issue". The Marion Star . p. 4. Retrieved May 2, 2025– via Newspapers.com. Susana Lugones, a journalist, was abducted Dec. 24, 1977. Her fate remains unknown.
35. "Gambia Must Account for Missing Journalist Ebrima Manneh". Committee to Protect Journalists. April 14, 2009. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
36. "Turner Trying to Salvage CIA". Asbury Park Press. May 23, 1977. p. 18. Retrieved May 2, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
37. "Raúl Gibb Guerrero, Dolores Guadalupe García Escamilla and Alfredo Jiménez Mota Named Worldpress.org's 2005-2006 International Editors of the Year". worldpress.org. December 11, 2006. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
38. "In Kazakhstan, reporter disappears after writing critical articles". Committee to Protect Journalists. April 19, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
39. Hagan, Rachel (February 19, 2025). "British Journalist Charlotte Peet Reported Missing in Brazil". BBC . Retrieved May 2, 2025.
40. Bruner, Raisa (June 26, 2012). "US Journalist Disappears in Mexico Drug Cartel Stronghold". ABC News . Archived from the original on December 20, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
41. "Threats and censorship at peak in Veracruz, Oaxaca, Michoacán and Zacatecas". Pressenza. September 30, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
42. "Ukraine brings back body of journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna tortured in Russian captivity, official says". The Kyiv Independent . April 24, 2025. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
43. Bennett-Smith, Meredith (October 11, 2012). "Jonathon Spollen, Missing Irishman, May Have Fallen Victim To Mysterious 'India Syndrome'". HuffPost . Retrieved May 2, 2025.
44. "Egyptian Journalist Detained, Disappears in State Custody". Committee to Protect Journalists. February 20, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
45. "The Doe Network: Case File 1578DFNJ". doenetwork.org. Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
46. Sanchez, Matt (June 21, 2015). "In Mexico, Journalists Are Becoming an Endangered Species". Fox News . Retrieved May 2, 2025.
47. "Belarus: Missing Journalist Feared Dead; Official Investigation Stalled". Committee to Protect Journalists. December 16, 2000. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
48. "Jarosław Ziętara". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved May 3, 2025.