01 May 2012, 21:00
Freedom House: Azerbaijan and Russia share the 172nd place by freedom of speech
By the situation with the freedom of speech, Azerbaijan and Russia are in the 172nd position in the world; Armenia is No. 149 and Georgia - No. 127. These are the results of the report for 2011 released today by the NGO Freedom House.
According to the report, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia are among the countries with "non-free media", while Georgia has received the status of a country with "partially free media".
The top three in the rating of the freedom of the press are Finland, Norway and Sweden; the list is closed by Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea), ranked from 195 to 197, respectively. Also, experts of the Freedom House placed Belarus in the 193rd place at the end of the list - between Iran and Eritrea.
The Freedom House publishes its reports every year on the eve of the World Press Freedom Day, marked on May 3. In the last year's report Georgia was ranked the 118th, Armenia - the 146th, Azerbaijan - the 171st and the Russian Federation - the 173rd.