Karachi Press Club president protests Islamabad High Court’s ruling, says reporting on Shamim’s affidavit not a crime
KARACHI: Expressing his disappointment over the Islamabad High Court’s decision to frame charges against journalists for their coverage of a case pertaining to ex-chief judge of Gilgit-Baltistan, Rana Shamim, Karachi Press Club President Fazil Jamili on Thursday said that “discharging journalistic duties is not a crime”.
The case pertains to the publication of an affidavit by Shamim which alleges that the former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar manipulated cases against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz.
The KPC president said: “As journalists, we are bound by the principles upholding our profession to report on any matter that is in the public interest. Given the robust nature of conversations and debates that followed the publication of the story, it is well established now that the public interest was indeed served in pursuing and publishing the story.”
Jamili urged the IHC to revisit its decision to subject the individuals who brought this story to the public, to the onerous and unnecessary process of vindication through trial.
“The court’s decision, as it stands, will have a chilling effect on Pakistan’s already beleaguered media industry and discourage journalists from pursuing stories that hold those in power to account,” he said.
Framing charges against these journalists for doing their duty is akin to levelling a charge against every journalist employed in the service of the people of Pakistan, he added.
Source: The News
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