Police Baton-Charge Journalists' Rally in Pakistan

 

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns police intervention to disrupt a peaceful protest by members of the Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) outside Pakistan’s Parliament in Islamabad on June 9.

 

According to the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), an IFJ affiliate, nine journalists were injured when police baton-charged the rally.

 

Among the injured were National Press Club secretary Afzal Butt, RIUJ President Shehryar Khan, RIUJ Finance Secretary Bilal Dar and journalists Raja Aftab, Mehboob Shah and Khalid Gardazi.

 

“Journalists have a right to voice their legitimate concerns through peaceful protest. The use of force by police to silence such protest violates the right to free expression and to protest,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

 

The protest was organised to draw government attention to the security crisis for journalists reporting in Pakistan’s war-torn regions, as well as the wide-scale retrenchment of media workers, the PFUJ reports.

 

The PFUJ expressed concern that the heavy-handed police response reflected a deeper growing attitude of indifference by government and law enforcement agencies regarding freedom of expression and the need for journalists to be able to do their work – and to do so  safely – in order to keep the public informed.

 

On the same day as the rally, security personnel reportedly opened fire on a team of journalists travelling in the troubled North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), soon after the journalists had been given clearance by security officials to enter the Swat Valley war zone. Two of the team suffered bullet injuries.

 

“Pakistan’s government and authorities must immediately act to ensure that security personnel understand and uphold the right to media freedom and the public’s right to information,” Park said.

 

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0919

 

The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries worldwide