[JURIST] 2012 marked the deadliest year for journalists, with at least 23 professional and 58 citizen journalists killed, according to a report [advocacy website] released Friday by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) [advocacy website]. RSF released its annual Press Freedom Index [materials] to coincide with World Press Freedom Day [official website]. Along with ranking countries on respect for media freedom, RSF also published a list [press release] of 39 “predators of freedom of information.” Five new predators have been added to the list this year: Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Syrian group Jabhat Al-Nosra, members and supporters of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Pakistan’s Baloch armed groups, and religious extremists in Maldives. Finland, Netherlands and Norway are at the top of the Press Freedom Index for the third straight year.

RSF issues the Press Freedom Index, with similar rankings for 2012, 2011 and 2010 [JURIST reports]. In February a group of UN independent human rights experts urged Iran to end [JURIST report] the recent crackdown on journalists and to release those who have been already been detained. Also that month Somalia’s new prime minister, Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid, said that the Somali authorities [JURIST report] would become more involved in protecting rape victims and journalists following intense criticism after the arrests of a woman allegedly gang-raped by soldiers and the journalist who interviewed her.