afrol News, 21 October - Eritrea is the world’s worst country for press freedom, Reporters Without Borders said in the Press Freedom Index 2009 issued Tuesday.

According to RSF, in Eritrea which appears at the bottom of the index at position number 175, a little information is in the public domain, stating that journalists in the country fear repression and persecution by the government.

RSF also said young democracies in Africa like Mali, South Africa and Ghana have witnessed dramatic improvement in democracy and respect of media freedom. Ghana dropped to 29 in the global index from 32, Mali 31 from 34 while South Africa dropped to 38 from 33 from the global index last year.

Somalia is ranked 164 with a record of six deaths of journalists in the first half of 2009. Also in the bottom are Rwanda, Libya, Tunisia, Sudan and DR Congo.

Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said press freedom must be defended everywhere in the world with the same energy and the same insistence, to improve press freedom.

Reporters Without Borders compiles the index every year on the basis of questionnaires that are completed by hundreds of journalists and media experts around the world. This year’s index reflects press freedom violations that took place between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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