Journalist escapes captors in Pakistan
Khawar Shafiq, the Daily Waqt (Daily Time) correspondent in Faisalabad, told colleagues he managed to escape from abductors on April 11, 2009, four days three bearded men grabbed him by his home near Faisalabad and shoved him into a car. He said the men made him inhale fumes from a liquid that made him lose…
Briefing: Pakistani journalists face Taliban, military threats
Journalists in Pakistan have come under rapidly escalating pressure as the military confronts Taliban militants in the northwest region of the country. Threats and attacks from both sides have made reporting from Taliban-controlled areas more dangerous.
Concern as Pakistan kidnapping case continues
New York, March 27, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned about the safety of Khadija Abdul Qahaar, publisher of the Web site Jihad Unspun, who has been held by kidnappers in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas for more than four months.
Under pressure, Pakistani cable carriers drop news channels
New York, March 13, 2009–Amid widespread civil demonstrations and a growing political crisis, Pakistan’s largest independent news broadcaster, Geo TV, was removed today from cable carriers in five major cities, Managing News Editor Azhar Abbas told CPJ.
Journalist kidnapped and released in Pakistan
According to the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Noorul Hasan, Royal TV’s Peshawar bureau chief, was kidnapped on February 8, when a group of armed men in two cars stopped his car while he and his crew were returning from Swat in North West Frontier Province. The others were not harmed, but Hasan said he…
Attacks on the Press in 2008: Pakistan
Military leader Pervez Musharraf resigned as president in August under threat of impeachment, leaving a decidedly mixed legacy on press freedom. As his power waned in late 2007, Musharraf shut down all independent broadcasters for a time and then tried to impose a rigid “code of conduct” on the stations.
Two journalists wounded in Pakistan shooting
New York, November 14, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned about the deteriorating security situation in the border area of Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the most recent incident, two journalists were shot and wounded today in Peshawar.
Pakistan paper under threat
Mr. Prime Minister: We are deeply concerned about the safety of the staff of the Urdu-language Daily Aaj Kal newspaper. According to Najam Sethi, the paper’s editor-in-chief, clerics at the Lal Masjid mosque in Islamabad have repeatedly issued inflammatory statements aimed at the newspaper and its staff. The accusations leave them vulnerable to attack by militant groups at a time when civil violence is on the rise.
Journalist gunned down in Pakistan
New York, May 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the fatal shooting of Express TV reporter Mohammed Ibrahim near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan today. Ibrahim, a reporter for the Express News channel, was gunned down by unknown men outside Khar, the main town of the Bajaur tribal area in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province,…