Media Release: Pakistan
January 15, 2013
The International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the Pakistan Federal Union
of Journalists (PFUJ) in expressing grief as we learn that a third journalist has
died as a result of the twin
blasts in Quetta on January 10, 2013.
Saifur
Rehman, a senior reporter with Samaa TV, passed away late Thursday night after
being critically injured in the second blast which struck a snooker club on
Alamdar Road in Quetta on January 12.
Two
other journalists, Imran Shaikh, a cameraman with Samaa TV, and Mohammad Iqbal,
photographer at NNI, were also killed in the blast. Media persons, rescue
workers and police personnel rushed to the first blast site when another blast
struck killing over 40 people. A majority of the people were killed and injured
in the second blast.
In
a statement, PFUJ President Pervaiz Shaukat and Secretary General Amin Yousuf
condoled with the family of the deceased and expressed their resolve to protect
the rights of journalists.
The IFJ joins the
PFUJ in once again calling on the provincial and national governments to take
immediate action to protect the lives of journalists and underlines the need
for special safety precautions by media professionals in the light of this
incident.
The PFUJ/IFJ report
on the State of Journalism in Balochistan Province, released on
World Press Freedom Day 2012, is available on the IFJ website here.
For
further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0950
The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131
countries
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