What country is ranked dead last in press freedom according to Reporters without Borders?

It's not — as you might suspect — North Korea.

It is, instead, Turkmenistan, a former Soviet satellite on the Caspian Sea that gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 but saw little or no appreciable improvement in quality of life or personal freedom.

https://rsf.org/en/turkmenistan

As an assistant attorney general, I occasionally had the pleasure of meeting with representatives of other nations to discuss open government laws.

Many of these meetings were arranged by the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana. The Council provided translators. it was a challenge to me to speak through an interpreter. And it was a challenge for the interpreters to translate my comments. As one of my colleagues often said, when I get excited I transmit at too fast a frequency.

The first group with which I met had travelled from Moldova. The group expressed surprise and skepticism about laws aimed at exposing government corruption, but was deeply appreciative and kind.

Not long after, I met with a group that consisted of representatives of Ukraine and Russia. A battle erupted when the members disagreed on what language the translator should use. I believe they settled on Russian. But the compromise did not stifle debate. That time, I was surprised by how outspoken and openly critical media members of the group were in the presence of members who were government officials.

Many others followed.

But nothing can compare with the delegation from Turkmenistan — a grim group of men all wearing dark suits who stared blankly ahead as I spoke and did not ask a single question.

As earnest as the Moldovans had been, and as passionate as the Ukrainian/Russian media delegates had been, it was frustrating (and truthfully a bit comical) that I clearly made no impression at all on the Turkmen.

But they left me with tokens of appreciation — as was the tradition with many of the groups — in this case a woven bracelet and a two-sided cardboard photograph of their president. On one side, he sits cross legged in colorful attire and holds a cup of tea and on the other he sits astride a white horse in a pure white suit and waves. On both sides, he wears a warm and welcoming smile.

No doubt some of the Turkmen I met with that day in the attorney general's conference room have since been consigned to the dustbin of history. And, as this article indicates, even their president has gone missing.

But what remains is a government that attaches literally no value to the public's right to know. It's difficult to conceive of anything less important to officials in Turkmenistan.

Again, it reminds us of the importance of resisting efforts to abridge the rights guaranteed by Kentucky's open government laws by lawmakers who argue that our laws do not provide sufficient protection for personal privacy (they do) or thwart economic development (they do not). These and other battles lie ahead.