Indonesia Ranks 130th out of 180 Nations in 2016 Press Freedom Index

Washington, 14 Rajab 1437/21 April 2016 (MINA) – Pinning blame on leaders in Indonesia, India, Thailand, and Malaysia, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) placed the four countries along with Bangladesh in the bottom third among 180 nations evaluated in its 2016 World Press Freedom Index.

The index released on Wednesday had Indonesia, at 130, ranked highest among the five Asian nations, followed by India – the world’s most populous democracy – at 133; Junta-ruled Thailand, at 136; Bangladesh at 144; and Malaysia at 146, Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) reported, quoting benarnews.org.

The Scandinavian countries of Finland, Netherlands, Norway and Denmark are ranked in the top four spots, while Syria, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea are in the last four places.

The annual index “reflects the intensity of the attacks on journalistic freedom and independence by governments, ideologies and private-sector interests during the past year,” Paris-based RSF said in releasing the 2016 index.

Writing about the Asia-Pacific region, the report specifically cited India and Bangladesh for taking little action in response to violence against journalists and writers.

“Wherever they work, Indian journalists are exposed to growing violence. As well as frequent verbal and physical violence, attacks by armed groups are on the rise in several states and the local authorities have had little success in reining it in,” RSF said in a press release.

RSF said there was almost one attack on an Indian journalist each month and four journalists were murdered in 2015, including at least two in connection with their work.

Although Indonesia ranked 130th out of 180 nations and showed significant improvement by moving up eight spots on the index, RSF criticized President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo
for not doing enough to uphold press freedom in his country.  (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)