Pakistan

There has been an increase in threats and acts of intimidation against journalists in the southwestern port city of Karachi. Two TV reporters, Syed Shahryar Asim of Aaj TV and Malik Munawar of Channel 5, have been attacked in connection with their work in the past 10 days alone. “We urge the authorities to break the cycle of violence and impunity by investigating both of these cases thoroughly...

Two close associates of Syed Saleem Shahzad, an Islamabad-based investigative reporter for the Asia Times online newspaper whose dead body was found in Punjab province on 31 May, have given interviews to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) in which they accuse the authorities of showing little interest in investigating his murder. “We voice our support for Shahzad’s...

Waqar Kiani, a Pakistani journalist who was assaulted Saturday night by men in police uniforms, told New York-based press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that he fears for his safety and the safety of his wife and two young children. The attack came five days after Kiani, 32, had written a story the UK Guardian newspaper about being abducted and tortured in 2008. On Saturday...

Shafiullah Khan, a young journalist who was badly wounded in a double bombing on June 11 in Peshawar, died June 21 morning from his injuries in a military hospital in Wah, a garrison town northwest of Islamabad, Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. The double bombing at Khyber Market, in a military area of Peshawar, left a toll of at least 40 dead and 100...

Pakistani journalist Shafiullah Khan is in critical condition after suffering extensive burns in a double bombing in Peshawar on Saturday. Many groups erroneously reported on Monday that Khan had died in the attack. Yousaf Ali, general secretary of the Khyber Union of Journalists, said Khan suffered burns over 70 per cent of his body and was being treated at a burn center near Rawalpindi. Thirty...

Two Pakistani journalists who captured images of apparent military violence against unarmed foreigners and a local man are being threatened, their colleagues have told New York-based press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The threats have come amid calls from high-ranking Pakistani military leaders to quell public criticism of their policies, made at a Thursday meeting of top...

Pakistan's decision on May 8 to not allow foreign broadcasters to continue to do live transmissions from Abbottabad must be rescinded immediately, New York-based press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has demanded. "It is reckless for Pakistan to interfere with the flow of information from the site of what is one of the world's most important news stories. Falling back on...

Pakistan's president committed to pursue justice for journalists killed in the line of duty, pledging to take steps to reverse the country's rising record of impunity. A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists met President Asif Ali Zardari Tuesday to discuss the growing number of targeted attacks on journalists in Pakistan and urged him to ensure that journalists are free to report...

One of the leaked US defence department cables released this week by WikiLeaks reveals details about Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl’s abduction and murder in Pakistan in January 2002 and the divisions it caused within Al-Qaeda. According to the cable, Al-Qaeda member Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks) told his interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay...

Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has deplored an attack on Pakistani journalist Naveed Kamal, of Metro One TV, who is in a coma after two motorcyclists shot him in the jaw as he was going home from work in Karachi on April 20. The attack was a shock and had put all journalists under pressure, said Pervaiz Shaukat, secretary-general of the Pakistan Federal Union of...