Azernews.Az

52 percent of Azerbaijanis believe the media in the country is free, a Gallup poll has found.

33 percent of the Azerbaijani citizens polled by the influential US-based research group said the local media is not free, while the remaining 15 percent could not or refused to answer the question.

During the poll, which was conducted throughout 2011, 1,000 people were questioned in each of the 133 countries studied.

Armenia, which is in long-standing conflict with Azerbaijan, is among the countries where respondents were the most downbeat. Only 29 percent of those polled in Armenia believe the media there is free, in contrast to 52 percent who said it was not free.

In neighboring Georgia, 47 percent of those polled believe Georgian media is free. 31 percent said it was not free.

In Finland, public opinion about media freedom was the most favorable, with 97 percent of respondents saying the country`s media is free. It is followed by the Netherlands, with 96 percent, and Australia, with 94 percent. It is surprising that in Ghana, 93 percent of respondents said the media is absolutely free.

Belarus, a former Soviet republic, is at the bottom of the list. Only 23 percent of its citizens spoke highly of media freedom in the country.

Belarus is followed by Gabon, Armenia and Mauritania.

Worldwide, 67 percent of the people believe their countries` media is free, the Gallup poll concluded.