In the annual Press Freedom Index by the Reporters Without Border, it is no surprise that Iran ranked as one of the worst countries for journalists. Iran, who was ranked 166th in 2008, has fallen to 172nd this year. The only countries to fare worst than Iran are Turkmenistan (173rd), North Korea (174th) and Eritrea (175th). As the Reporters Without Border pointed out:
Journalists have suffered more than ever this year in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Iran. The president’s disputed reelection plunged the country into a major crisis and fostered regime paranoia about journalists and bloggers.
Automatic prior censorship, state surveillance of journalists, mistreatment, journalists forced to flee the country, illegal arrests and imprisonment – such is the state of press freedom this year in Iran.
For more information on the lack of freedom of press found in Iran, here are my previous blogs on journalists arrested during the post-election turmoil:
– And the Ignominious Trials Continue
Here is also a list of some of the journalists arrested by the Iranian government in the post-election turmoil. The list is taken from the Daily Beast:
Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari was released recently on humanitarian grounds.
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