The media-freedom group Reporters Without Borders has released an updated list of enemies of the press to mark the United Nations-backed World Press Freedom Day.
The group's list of what it calls "predators of the press" includes presidents and heads of government including Chinese President Hu Jintao, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Also appearing on the list this year are Chechnya's pro-Kremlin President Ramzan Kadyrov and Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
Reporters Without Borders said anyone who questions Kadyrov's policies could face what it called "deadly reprisals."
The group said Mullah Omar, whose influence extends to Pakistan as well as Afghanistan, was included on the list because "the holy war he is waging is also directed at the press."
The group said Taliban militants have threatened local reporters who do not promote Mullah Omar's "propaganda," and that around 40 Taliban attacks directly targeted journalists and news media in 2009.
The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said that "these predators of press freedom have the power to censor, imprison, kidnap, torture and, in the worst cases, murder journalists."
compiled from agency reports