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Pakistan Press Foundation

Freedom of Expression

Suspect in TV reporter murder case shot dead

KARACHI: Liaquat Ali, the prime suspect in the 2011 murder of television journalist Wali Khan Babar, was killed and an accomplice of his was wounded in what was claimed to be ‘an encounter with police’ in Clifton in the early hours of Saturday. A policeman also sustained injuries, officials said. They claimed that the gunfight […]


Lifting ban on Twitter

NO doubt, it is an era of freedom of expression, and denying access to social networking websites sparks criticism by advocates of freedom of information and expression, as was the case with the blocking of Twitter by the ministry of information technology on legitimate concerns. Pakistan has thoughtlessly been following western values and cultures and, […]


Reporters Without Borders concerned over growing attacks on journalists

PESHAWAR: A leading global press freedom watchdog on Tuesday expressed concern over growing attacks on journalists in Pakistan with Abdul Razaq Gul becoming the fifth journalists killed this year. “The authorities must work actively to protect journalists, who keep on being the victims of physical attacks, threats, kidnap attempts and even murder,” Paris-based Reporters Without […]


Journalists in danger

Sir: In third world countries, the media is paying a heavy price to expose the truth. According to reports in the media, another Pakistani journalist and Express TV bureau chief was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the southwest Balochistan province. Similarly, the dead body of another kidnapped Pakistani journalist was discovered in Karachi last […]


MQM slams attack on media men

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Coordination Committee has strongly condemned the shooting of Aslam Khan and Muhammad Khalil, reporter and cameraman of a private news channel while they covered Awami Tehreek’s rally at Napier Road, Lyari. In a statement issued here on Tuesday, they termed the incident an attack on the freedom of press. They […]


Police ‘torture’ on journalists protested

PESHAWAR – Charsadda Union of Journalists Monday staged a protest demonstration against police torture on two journalists and demanded of the Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti to take immediate action against the responsible persons. The protest rally was staged in front of Peshawar Press Club, which was led by President Charsadda Union of Journalists. […]


‘Blasphemous content’: Police register FIR against Facebook

By Qaiser Zulfiqar ISLAMABAD: A day after the authorities briefly banned access to microblogging website Twitter due to ‘blasphemous’ material, the city capital police on the orders of a city court on Monday registered a case against social networking giant Facebook. Margalla police station registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Facebook and three other […]


‘Journalists’ killing tantamount to interfering in free media

ISLAMABAD: Attacks on journalists are not only condemnable but also tantamount to causing hurdles in the free dissemination of information to the general public. Safety and protection of the journalists should be the top priority of the law enforcement agencies that were not only required to maintain law and order but also uphold the law […]


Twitter ban

WILL Pakistan ever learn that bans are counterproductive and only serve to make a laughing stock out of us? More importantly, will our decision-makers ever realise that it is futile to try and police the world? Apparently not. A couple of years ago, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, on the directives of the Lahore High Court, […]


The ban that became a bane

Karachi: The abrupt blocking and subsequent unblocking of the popular social media site Twitter on Sunday was a perfect reflection of the government’s handling of many other key issues: a bumbling, knee-jerk reaction soon reduced to a comedy of errors. The move to block the website and the defiant reaction to the ban also revealed […]


Protests against killing of journalists in Balochistan

QUETTA: Local journalists and activists of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan held a demonstration on Sunday against the killing of a journalist in Turbat area of Kech district. The bullet-riddled body of Razzaq Gul, who worked for the Express TV, was found in Turbat on Saturday. He was kidnapped and killed by unknown people and […]


Pakistan restores Twitter after block over “blasphemous” posts

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan restored access to Twitter after briefly blocking the microblog over “blasphemous” posts about a Facebook competition involving caricatures of Prophet Mohammed. The website was blocked Sunday by the telecoms authority on the orders of the IT ministry amid accusations it refused to remove messages about the Facebook contest. But the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority […]


TUJ condemns torture on tribal journalist

SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Tribal Union of Journalists, South Waziristan Agency Unit, Saturday strongly condemned torturing of a tribal journalist allegedly by personnel of Frontier Corps (FC) in Wana, South Waziristan Agency.To condemn the act on the part of the personnel of the FC, a meeting of TUJ, South Waziristan Agency unit was held with Mohammad Roshan […]


Journalist killed, body dumped in Turbat

QUETTA: The continuing kill-and-dump operations, rampant in Balochistan, have taken the life of another journalist. The bullet-riddled body of Express News correspondent Razzaq Gul was found dumped in a deserted area near Turbat town in Kech district on Saturday morning. According to journalist bodies based in Balochistan, this is the 17th journalist to have been […]