The Maldives has declined in its status on press freedom and been given a ‘Not Free’ label by the Freedom House for the first time.

The Freedom House's report on the freedom of press for 2017, which classifies nations based on whether the press is ‘Free’, ‘Partly Free’, or ‘Not Free’ also states that the Maldives had dropped four points in the last year.

“Maldives declined from Partly Free to Not Free as the government further tightened its control of the media, including through the passage of new legislation that criminalizes defamation” the Freedom House said.

It further said that the Maldives ranked so low because of ‘arbitrary arrests and police harassment’.

While the Freedom House states that more details are to follow, its overview for the Asian region notes the parliament’s decision to criminalize defamation in 2016, the government-sponsored bill, written by Ahmed Nihan Hussein Manik on behalf of the government, covers comments that defame individuals, anti-Islamic rhetoric, and statements considered threatening to national security.

Maldives ranked right below Sri Lanka and the same as Bangladesh – two nations where bloggers and journalists have been killed.

The Reporters Without Borders had last week placed Maldives’ press freedom index for 2016 five points below that of the year before.

The organization also noted prosecution under the defamation law and ‘police refusal to investigate the disappearance of Ahmed Rilwan’, a journalist that was abducted in 2014.