Eritrea tops list of 10 most censored nations

Moscow, May 4 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Eritrea, in the Horn of Africa region, leads the list of top 10 most censored countries in the world, according to an international non-governmental organisation, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Foreign reporters are not granted access to Eritrea and all domestic press coverage is controlled by the government, the CPJ said in a report released to mark World Press Freedom Day May 3.

"Every time (a journalist) had to write a story, they arrange for interview subjects and tell you specific angles you have to write on," the CPJ said citing an unnamed exiled Eritrean journalists.

Eritrea is followed by North Korea, which topped the previous list of most censored countries published in 2006.

The list includes in order -- Syria, Iran, Equatorial Guinea, Uzbekistan, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Belarus.

"The 10 most restricted countries employ a wide range of censorship techniques, from the sophisticated blocking of websites and satellite broadcasts by Iran to the oppressive regulatory systems of Saudi Arabia and Belarus, from the dominance of state media in North Korea and Cuba to the crude tactics of imprisonment and violence in Eritrea, Uzbekistan, and Syria," the CPJ said in its report.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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