Press freedom index: Belarus drops to last place in Europe | DW News

Reporters Without Borders has cautioned of declining state support for press freedom around the world. The group released its 2024 World Press Freedom rankings, showing a mild improvement in press freedom in Germany. Norway retained its top position on the RSF index, but the group highlighted that the country had also seen a fall in its political score. Eritrea ranked lowest, taking over from North Korea which was in the last position in 2023. Afghanistan fell 26 places to 178th, Togo went down by 43 to 113th and Ecuador was ranked 110th after slipping down 30 places. The 13 highest-ranked nations where were all in Europe, with Norway followed by Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Estonia, Portugal, Ireland, Switzerland and Germany rounding out the top 10. Germany moved up to the 10th position from 21st last year. Belarus ranks as the worst country for press freedom in Europe.

DW's Freedom of Speech Award 2024 will go to Yulia Navalnaya and the Russian Anti-Corruption Foundation, Germany's international public broadcaster announced on Friday. Navalnaya is the widow of the late Russian opposition leader — and founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation — Alexei Navalny.The award comes amid a heightened crackdown on Russian journalists. Just days before DW's announcement, Russian police detained journalists Konstantin Gabov, who formerly worked as a correspondent for DW, and Sergei Karelin, a cameraman. Authorities claimed that the arrests were part of combating extremism, accusing them of preparing material for a YouTube channel linked to Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation. The two journalists had previously worked with DW. However, the charges against them are not connected to their work with the German broadcaster, which is also banned in Russia.

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