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 8 years ago
Join our WhatsApp channel
NEW YORK - The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Turkish authorities to stop jailing journalists and suppressing dissent in the wake of a referendum to change Turkey’s system of governance from parliamentary to presidential.
In the past week, police arrested at least three journalists and raided the newsroom of leftist website Sendika for reporting on protests over alleged irregularities in the referendum.
“The crackdown on press freedom in Turkey has devastated the country’s once-vibrant media landscape,” said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova. “If Turkish authorities want citizens to accept the referendum results they must allow critical voices to speak freely, without fear of retaliation. We call on officials in Ankara to turn a new leaf in media policies and embrace an independent press.”
Police raided the newsroom of Sendika and arrested its news editor, Ali Ergun Demirhan, the website reported. Demirhan tweeted details of the raid and his arrest. A translation of his post read, “Our office was raided at 5:50 [a.m]. I am being detained on the accusation of ‘making the yes [referendum vote] seem illegitimate.’” Police arrested Demirhan for inciting people to hatred, being hostile to a public officer, and insult for allegedly trying to present the referendum result as illegitimate, Sendika reported. The report added that police confiscated a computer hard drive and cell phone.
Istanbul police also arrested Murat Bay, a reporter for Sendika, on his way back from covering protests on April 17, according to the news website Evrensel. Bay was detained in relation to reports on the protests and for allegedly providing details of rallies in advance.
Also on April 17, police in the western city of Izmir detained Kazım Kızıl, a photojournalist for the website Kamera Sokak, who was covering a protest against alleged irregularities in the constitutional referendum, according to Demokrat Haber and Ben Gazeteciyim, a volunteer association of Turkish journalists formed to show solidarity with their threatened colleagues.
The raid and arrests are a continuation of Turkey’s crackdown on independent reporting. Separately this week, Istanbul’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office charged six journalists under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which prohibits insults to Turkish identity, over their reporting of Turkish military actions in predominantly ethnic-Kurdish cities in southeastern Turkey, according to Evrensel. The journalists are Selman KeleĹź, Özgür Paksoy, Kenan Kırkaya, and Aziz Oruç, from the shuttered pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency ( DÄ°HA); Ersin Çaksu, editor of the pro-Kurdish daily Özgürlükçü Demokrasi; and Ä°hsak Yasul, news editor of Özgürlükçü Demokrasi. - Committee to Protect 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.
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.