Press freedom has taken a battering in Pakistan over the past month following three separate incidents of journalists being physically assaulted and threatened.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) the organisation representing 500,000 journalists worldwide is dismayed at this latest spree of violence directed towards the media and is calling for the Pakistani Government to launch full investigations into the incidents.
The IFJ is concerned over the following incidents in Pakistan:
Police confiscate journalists' cameras, phones and laptops
On 16 April, at Lahore Airport police confiscated mobile phones, cameras and laptops from journalists, editors and photographers who were accompanying Asif Ali Zardai, leader of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party from a recent trip to Dubai.
The police action prompted the journalists to stage a sit in at the airport for several hours after police blocked them from leaving unless they handed over their equipment for checking.
Journalists were finally allowed to leave, once police agreed not to check equipment and to return previously seized equipment after removing film, cassette tapes and memory cards.
Editor assaulted for paper's political coverage
On 14 April, the offices of the Daily Mashriq newspaper in Quetta were broken into by five armed men reportedly trying to deliver a press release on the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) after being unhappy with the paper's media coverage of the party.
The attackers reportedly told a security guard they wanted to deliver a press release to the editorial floor, when the security guard refused they assaulted him and forced their way into the building.
Once inside they physically assaulted the executive editor, Kamran Mumtaz, ransacked the office and threatened the management with dire consequences if the paper did not review its editorial policy towards the JWP.
"True democracy is only achievable when media coverage of political parties and politicians is balanced and bias free," said IFJ President Christopher Warren.
"This will never happen as long as violence is used in attempts to intimidate journalists into silence or favourable reporting," said Warren.
Journalist beaten in Northern Areas
On 20 March, Nisar Abbas, journalist with the privately-owned Geo TV and daily Jang newspaper was beaten by a riffle butt by an army officer in Skardu, the northern area of Pakistan.
The attack occurred when the military raided a ceremony organised by a humanitarian non-governmental organisation. The ceremony - as it involved a gathering of more than five people - was prohibited under Article 144 of the Criminal Code.
"Nothing less than full investigations into these incidents is warranted considering the violent nature of the attacks and their impact on press freedom and democracy," said Warren.
For further information contact Christopher Warren on +61 411 757 668.
The IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 110 countries
