LONDON — Reporters Without Borders, which advocates for press freedom, increased pressure on Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to release dozens of journalists currently detained in the country and to relax its heavy suppression of the news media and of dissenting voices.

A delegation from Reporters Without Borders met with top Saudi officials this year, including the foreign minister and justice minister, the organization said, in a visit that was spurred by widespread outrage about the killing of the Saudi dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi.

The main objective of the trip was to urge the Saudi government to free the 30 journalists, but the kingdom’s dismal ranking in the organization’s annual press freedom index also became a focus of conversation, according to Christophe Deloire, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders, who was part of the delegation. Saudi Arabia was ranked 172nd out of 180 countries on the group’s annual list for 2019.

“They took time to hear what we had to say, and to explain why the country is 172 in the press freedom index,” Mr. Deloire said. “It’s the first time they were so badly ranked, and they were of course not satisfied with that.”