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 7 years ago
Join our WhatsApp channel
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - Slovaks paid a final farewell Saturday to Jan Kuciak, an investigative journalist who was shot dead with his fiancee, with the archbishop declaring that everyone in the nation now wanted to know about Italian mafia influence, thanks to Kuciak's reporting.
A funeral Mass for Kuciak was held at the church of St. Francis of Assisi in the town of Stiavnik in western Slovakia, with his parents, friends and fellow journalists packing the aisles.
The bodies of 27-year-old Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova were found Sunday in their house in the town of Velka Maca, east of the capital, Bratislava. They had planned to get married in May.
Kuciak was reporting about the influence of the Italian mafia in Slovakia and its possible ties to people close to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Two of Fico's associates have already resigned this week due to the reports.
"If the murderer wanted to silence Jan, he managed quite the opposite," said Bratislava Archbishop Stanislav Zvolensky, who led the funeral Mass. "There's not a single person who wouldn't know what happened."
The archbishop also said he can understand why many feel angry about the slayings.
"But believe that evil won't win — even if it might seem so" now, he said.
Tens of thousands of protesters marched Friday in dozens of Slovak cities to honor Kuciak, with some demanding the resignation of Fico's government.
The FBI, Britain's Scotland Yard, Europol and police forces from Italy and the Czech Republic are helping Slovak police with the investigation.
Earlier Saturday, Police in Slovakia released seven Italians who were detained as suspects in the slayings. The seven men were taken into custody Thursday when police raided houses allegedly linked to members of the Italian 'ndrangheta crime syndicate.
Police confirmed their release but gave no details. State prosecutors also declined to comment.
Tensions in Slovakia's governing coalition are increasing over the slayings.
A junior party in Fico's coalition government — the Most-Hid party of mostly ethnic Hungarians — has called for the resignation of Minister Robert Kalinak.
After Kalinak, a close ally of Fico in their leftist Smer-Social Democracy party, said Saturday he had no plans to resign, Most-Hid announced that its leadership will meet March 15 to discuss the future of the coalition.
The ultranationalist Slovak National Party is the third member of the coalition.
The opposition has also demanded Kalinak's resignation, for he has been linked to corruption scandals in the past. - AP/Photo: Actuality.sk
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.