• October 22, 2014
• Freedom of Expression

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Office of the Prime Minister Islamabad, Pakistan Via facsimile: +92-51-2852663 Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to express its deep concern over the recent decision by Pakistan’s broadcast regulator to suspend the privately owned ARY News, which is watched by millions in the country. We urge your government […]

• October 4, 2014
• Freedom of Expression, Front Page

NEW YORK: A large gathering of US-based Pakistani journalists and political and civil society leaders have expressed solidarity and support for the beleaguered Pressmen in Balochistan, where 40 of them have been killed over the past seven years, and called for bringing the culprits to justice. Speakers at the meeting urged the government to launch […]

• September 14, 2014
• Freedom of Expression, Front Page

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received shocking reports of journalists having to face the worst ordeals possible, during the course of the year 2014. Four journalists and five of their supporting staff have been killed by “un-known” persons and more than 38 journalists were attacked and injured by the police and mostly by those […]

• September 3, 2014
• Freedom of Expression

The ongoing political crisis in Pakistan turned deadly over the weekend with three protesters dead and at least 500 wounded in the capital, Islamabad. As is often the case, the press was not spared from violence, with dozens of journalists covering the rally injured by police or protesters, according to news reports and the Pakistan […]

• August 26, 2014
• Freedom of Expression, Front Page

New York: The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on all sides to respect the role of journalists and media workers covering an anti-government demonstration in Pakistan. Journalists from various news outlets have been attacked while covering the “Freedom March”, according to news reports. “We note that the organizers of the ‘Freedom March’ have condemned these […]

• August 6, 2014
• Freedom of Expression

WASHINGTON: The Taliban have warned the Pakistani media that if they did not stop criticising the Mujahedeen, they will be attacked and “no crying and sobbing” will prevent the holy warriors from punishing journalists. In a message sent to media advocacy groups across the world, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan also warned that the journalists would not get […]

• August 6, 2014
• Freedom of Expression, Front Page

In April, Geo News senior anchor Hamid Mir was shot multiple times shortly after a CPJ delegation met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who pledged to take several steps to improve journalist security. The investigation into the attack has yielded no accountability. And since the attack, two arrest warrants have been issued by courts in […]

• August 5, 2014
• Freedom of Expression, Front Page

CPJ received an email message from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan– the Pakistan Taliban–this morning. Signed by the “Media commission, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Mohmand agency,” the message was addressed to CPJ and our colleagues at Reporters Without Borders. The message is headlined, “The Global war of ideologies and the behavior of media: To the heads and members of […]

• August 2, 2014
• Freedom of Expression, Front Page

Forty-nine year-old magazine editor and publisher Shoaib Adil fled his home in the eastern city of Lahore last month and went into hiding with his wife and children. Adil faces threats and possible charges of blasphemy–a crime punishable by life imprisonment or death–in connection with a book he published in 2007, written by a judge […]

• July 20, 2014
• Freedom of Expression, Front Page

Ukraine was the most dangerous country for journalists in the first six months of 2014 with seven members of the news media killed, according to the International News Safety Institute’s biannual survey of news media casualties, Killing the Messenger. This was Ukraine’s first time in the top five since INSI began keeping casualty records over […]

• July 15, 2014
• Media Ethics

New York: A Pakistani television journalist was convicted on charges of travelling to Afghanistan without travel documents and sentenced to four years in prison, Pakistani officials said on Sunday. He had initially been accused of spying by Afghan authorities, according to news reports. An Afghan court in eastern Nangarhar province convicted Faizullah Khan, a reporter […]

• June 24, 2014
• Freedom of Expression, Front Page

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Office of the Prime Minister Islamabad, Pakistan Via facsimile: +92-51-2852663 Your Excellency: We are writing to express our deep concern about the deteriorating climate for press freedom in Pakistan, which undermines recent commitments made by your government during CPJ’s mission to the country. In our meeting with you on March 19, […]

• June 17, 2014
• Freedom of Expression, Front Page

In Pakistan, where freedom of expression is largely perceived as a Western notion, the Snowden revelations have had a damaging effect. The deeply polarized narrative has become starker as the corridors of power push back on attempts to curb government surveillance. “If the citizens of the United States of America cannot have these rights, how […]

• June 13, 2014
• Freedom of Expression, Front Page

VIENNA: The International Press Institute (IPI) today expressed concern over Pakistani regulators’ decision suspending the licence of the Geo media group. Pakistan’s Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) suspended Geo TV, Pakistan’s largest television network, on June 6 for a period of 15 days and fined them 10 million rupees (approx. €75,000) after receiving a complaint […]