Reporters Without Borders has just released the latest World Press Freedom Rankings for the year 2007 and sadly Pakistan features in the bottom 20 countries coming in at rank 152 out of a total of 167 countries evaluated worldwide in terms of Press Freedom in the country. For the record Pakistan has mustered enough leverage to rise by five positions from its embarrassing 157th position last year but it still suffers some serious violation of Press Freedom quite aptly explained within the Press Release issued by RSF

Pakistan (152nd) continues to get a low ranking. All authority is concentrated in the army, led by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999. The privately-owned TV stations were prevented from working freely and dozens of reporters were beaten and arrested during a crisis precipitated by Musharraf’s dismissal of the supreme court president.