Memorial meeting in Moscow on Anna Politkovskaya's birthday, August 30, 2008. The sign reads, "Hey you! Don't you dare misuse the name of Anna, conscience of her country."
Photo: Svetlana Privalova
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Russian Press Not Freed
Reporters without Borders published its annual rating of freedom of the press in the world yesterday. Russia ranked 141st of the 173 countries on the human rights organization’s list, finding itself between Mexico and Ethiopia. The organization noted that “state and opposition media are under strict control” in this country and strongly hinted at the involvement of state special services in the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
The top ten countries with the freest media are Iceland, Luxembourg, Norway, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Belgium, Latvia, New Zealand and Slovakia. All the countries of Europe ranked within the top 50. There were African countries, Mali, Namibia, Cabo Verde and Ghana, in the top 50 as well. At the bottom of the list were Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea.
The rating is based on 50 criteria. Among them are the number of journalists killed, wounded and arrested every year, the presence of censorship, state monopolization of television and radio, and the presence of independent media. The authors of the report noted that journalists are killed in Russia every year. Last year, the organization ranked Russia 144th out of 169 countries considered. The American NGO Freedom House ranked Russia 164th out of 195 the same year in its press freedom list. The international Committee to Protect Journalists included Russia in its list of the top ten countries where press freedom is threatened.
Reporters without Borders appealed to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in February of this year, when he was still a candidate, to create conditions for greater freedom in Russia.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 23, 2008
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