PFUJ calls for end to Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists
November 02, 2025: PFUJ urges Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments to end Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists and ensure their safety and press freedom.
JournalismPakistan.com | Published 12 years ago
Join our WhatsApp channel
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is appalled by the death of three Pakistani journalists in the space of a week and has called on authorities to thoroughly investigate the cases to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.
On March 1, Mehmood Ahmed Afridi, a correspondent for the newspaper Intikhab, was killed by gunmen travelling by motorcycle in Kalat, in the southwestern province of Balochistan.
Afridi, 56, had worked as a journalist since 1995 and was president of the Kalat Press Club. Colleagues said Afridi had been waiting outside a public telephone booth when two men on a motorcycle stopped and opened fire - he was shot four times.
On 27 February in Miranshah, North Waziristan, in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), journalist Malik Mumtaz Khan, was on his way home when he was gunned down by armed men waiting in a vehicle with tinted windows. Khan had been a journalist for 15 years and had worked for Geo TV and the Jang newspaper group. He had also recently been elected president of the Miranshah Press Club.
On February 25 Khushnood Ali Shaikh, the chief reporter of the state-controlled Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) wire agency was killed in Karachi, in a hit-and-run accident.
Shaikh had been receiving threatening calls for some time that warned his child would be abducted and murdered if he did not pay Rs50,000 in extortion. Shaikh had informed his union, his employer and the police about the threats. He relocated to Islamabad and thought the threats had gone away. Returning to Karachi, the threats resumed. It’s believed his death was no accident and that he was deliberately targeted.
“Increasingly, governments around the world are allowing killers to get away with murder because the targeted killing of journalists are not properly investigated,” the IFJ said.
“Authorities cannot allow a culture of impunity to flourish. Journalists must be allowed to do their job of scrutinizing the powerful and holding them to account. Pakistan must demonstrate that it will investigate these crimes with vigor.”
This week, the IFJ has sent an international delegation to Pakistan. The 5-member delegation is meeting union leaders, media persons, and civil society representatives from four provinces to assess the situation for journalists, in particular with regards to their safety and job security.
The delegation will be meeting media owners and government officials to impress upon them the importance of a safe and independent media and discuss ways in which the policy and legal environment can support press freedom and allow the media to fulfill their democratic function.
November 02, 2025: PFUJ urges Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments to end Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists and ensure their safety and press freedom.
November 02, 2025: Impunity for crimes against journalists deepens worldwide as Pakistan reports a 60 percent surge in attacks and weak enforcement of safety laws.
November 01, 2025: Pakistan Press Foundation reports 137 attacks on journalists in 2025, highlighting rising threats, legal harassment, and censorship on the International Day to End Impunity.
November 01, 2025: A viral Samaa TV clip featuring MNA Sher Afzal Marwat’s crude remarks and Talat Hussain’s laughter raises questions about the declining ethics of Pakistani television.
October 31, 2025: Police foiled a plot to kill DawnNewsTV journalist Tahir Naseer in Rawalpindi after arresting suspects hired for Rs200,000. Naseer says threats followed his reporting.
October 31, 2025: CPJ calls on Pakistan to bring Imtiaz Mir’s killers to justice after the journalist was allegedly murdered by a banned militant group in Karachi.
October 30, 2025: The PFUJ has condemned a fabricated drug case against journalist Matiullah Jan, calling it an attempt to silence him and urging authorities to quash the charges immediately.
October 30, 2025: NewsOne TV remains on air but faces mass layoffs and delayed salaries, exposing Pakistan’s worsening media crisis and financial instability.
November 02, 2025 Independent outlet All About Macau to halt print and online operations amid rising pressure, financial strain, and legal threats, sparking press freedom concerns in the city.
November 01, 2025 Belarus court jails journalist Siarhei Chabotska for extremism and defaming the president, highlighting Minsk’s ongoing crackdown on press freedom.
November 01, 2025 Mexican journalist Miguel Angel Beltran was found murdered in Durango. CPJ urges authorities to ensure justice amid rising violence against journalists in Mexico.
November 01, 2025 UNESCO survey finds one-third of media lawyers cannot effectively defend journalists due to threats, limited resources, and lack of specialization.
October 31, 2025 Radio Free Asia, a US government-funded broadcaster covering tightly controlled Asian media environments, has suspended all news operations after federal funding dried up.