Maldives improves on press freedom index
The Maldives improved its ranking for the first time since 2010.
18 Apr 2019, 9:00 AM
The Maldives has jumped 22 places in the annual press freedom index by the France-based Reporters Without Borders, improving its score for the first time since 2010.
In the 2019 index released Thursday, the Maldives is ranked 98 out of 179 countries, up from 120 last year.
The Maldives fell steadily during former president Abdulla Yameen’s administration but the election of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in September “raised hopes” after specific pledges were made to improve press freedom, RSF observed.
“One promise has been kept: two months after the elections, parliament repealed the draconian 2016 law on defamation, which had been widely used by the previous government to harass independent media outlets, especially Raajje TV, which had to pay a total of 215,000 euros in fines for allegedly defaming Yameen,” RSF noted.
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