Sri Lanka drops 5 places in World Press Freedom Index

Sri Lanka has dropped five places last year to be ranked among the 20 worst countries in a leading press freedom survey. The annual World Press Freedom Index for 2011 compiled by Paris based Reporters Without Borders has ranked Sri Lanka 163rd. Sri Lanka was ranked 158 in 2010. The index widely accepted around the world indicates the increasing suppression on media freedom in the country.  In an accompanying report, the RSF said while violence and impunity persisted in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Philippines, there was more repression in Sri Lanka, Vietnam and China. Elsewhere, in the South Asian region Pakistan at 151st position was the world’s deadliest country for journalists for the second year in a row in 2011 with 10 deaths. The survey ranked India at 131^st. The United States dropped 27 places in the rank to the 47th due to the many arrests of journalists covering the Occupy Wall Street protests.