Grenades damage journalist’s house
MAY 22, 2006 Posted May 30, 2007 Nasrullah Afridi, Daily Mashriq THREATENED, ATTACKED Unidentified assailants lobbed two hand grenades at Afridi’s house in Bara, the main town of Khyber Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, damaging the surrounding wall and veranda. No one was injured in the attack.
CPJ condemns assault on Pakistani journalist
New York, May 18, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the continuing escalation of attacks on journalists amid Pakistan’s deteriorating security situation. The latest incident is an assault on Shakil Ahmad Turabi, editor-in-chief of the South Asian News Agency (SANA), in Islamabad. Turabi was pulled from his car and beaten in a commercial…
TV station attacked during civil unrest
MAY 12, 2006 Posted May 16, 2007 Aaj TV ATTACKED Amid violence between anti- and pro-government groups in Karachi, the independent station’s office came under fire from what media reports identified as pro-government supporters. At least 34 people were reported killed in the unrest.
Concern in Pakistan as Supreme Court threatens to stifle news coverage
New York, May 10, 2007—The Pakistani Supreme Court should immediately withdraw the alarming press directive issued on Wednesday that is designed to stifle coverage of a controversial issue involving the court, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The court warned print and electronic media to avoid “any interference” in the high-profile dispute over the…
Photographer killed, three other journalists injured in Pakistan attack
New York, May 3, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the death of freelance photographer Mehboob Khan, who was killed in an April 28 suicide bomb attack aimed at Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao. The minister escaped with minor injuries, but 28 people died in the attack at a political rally in the small town of…
Backsliders: The 10 countries where press freedom has most deteriorated
New York, May 2, 2007–Three nations in sub-Saharan Africa are among the places worldwide where press freedom has deteriorated the most over the last five years, a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found. Ethiopia, where the government launched a massive crackdown on the private press by shutting newspapers and jailing editors,…
In Pakistan, another TV station said to be shuttered
New York, April 26, 2007— Government regulators have ordered Royal TV off the air after its coverage of recent demonstrations concerning the dismissal of the chief judge of the country’s top court, the station said in a statement Wednesday. The largely Urdu-language station ordinarily broadcasts by satellite to the capital, Islamabad, and to nearby Rawalpindi,…
CPJ urges Pakistani president to halt recent government harassment
Dear President Musharaff: As Pakistanis prepare for elections and a possible change of national leadership in the coming months, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on you to reverse the government’s recent anti-press actions and allow for greater public criticism of your administration in the media. Government harassment through legal, financial, and physical attacks on media houses runs contrary to your often-repeated claim of fostering a free press in Pakistan.
In Pakistan, a media group cries foul over government advertising
CPJ’s Bob Dietz discusses the situation in Pakistan. (mp3). New York, March 27, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about a deteriorating media environment in Pakistan that includes both business retaliation and outright attacks on media companies.