2014 the worst in a decade for journalists: PFUJ

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 31 December 2014

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists reports a significant rise in violence against journalists in 2014. The year marked the deadliest period for media workers in the past decade.

Summary

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has termed 2014 as the worst in a decade for Pakistani journalists and media workers. In a statement issued Tuesday, the PFUJ Secretary General Khursheed Abbasi said journalists and media workers were killed inside their offices and duty places but “not a single perpetrator of these incidents has been prosecuted in the court of law for one reason or the other.” The year 2014 claimed 14 lives among them eight journalists and six media workers in numerous incidents of target killings, attacks on workers and media houses in Pakistan, the statement said. The secretary has termed the incident of January 17 in Karachi and August 28 in Quetta as the worst in which two journalists and four media employees were killed. Pakistan has been rated as the third most dangerous country for journalists.

KEY POINTS:

• 2014 was termed the worst year for Pakistani journalists by PFUJ.
• 14 individuals, including eight journalists, lost their lives in violent incidents.
• Not a single perpetrator has been prosecuted for these attacks.
• Karachi and Quetta were sites of major incidents resulting in journalist deaths.
• Pakistan ranks as the third most dangerous country for journalists globally.