21 March 2012

IFJ Condemns Attack on Office of Television Broadcaster in Pakistan

The International Federation of Journalists

(IFJ) and its affiliate the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ)

strongly condemn the attack on the office building of television broadcaster Geo TV in Karachi, Pakistan’s

largest city, on the morning of Tuesday March 20.

During the attack, armed motorcyclists fired

upon the private television broadcaster's buildingand smashed the

windows of the news channel's satellite van. Reports indicate that no injuries were

sustained during the attack.

The shooting follows another incident on Monday

March 19, where it was reported that Geo

TV’s digital satellite cable wires were cut and the technicians sent to

repair the wires were threatened.

In a statement, PFUJ President Pervaiz

Shaukat said the latest attack on the Geo

TV building reflected an increasing incidence of violence against the media

in Pakistan.

He called upon the government to immediately find and arrest those responsible.

PFUJ Secretary-General Amin Yousuf also announced that if the attackers were

not brought to justice, the PFUJ would stage a country-wide protest.

“The IFJ joins the PFUJ in demanding a

thorough investigation of the attack on Geo

TV’s office building”, IFJ Asia-Pacific

Director Jacqueline Park said.

“Authorities must respond with urgency to the

alarming regularity of attacks against journalists in Pakistan, and

end the impunity which prevails for murder, assault and abduction of media

personnel across the country”.

2011, as

many as ten journalists were killed and many more injured, making Pakistan the

most dangerous country for journalists for the second year in a row.

Earlier this year,

senior journalist Mukaram Khan Atif waskillednear his home in Shabqadar

Town, Charsadda, in Pakistan’s central Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa province on January 17, 2012.

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0950

The IFJ

represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries

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the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific

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