Time for govt to establish credibility as journalists' protector: CPJ

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 9 September 2015

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the Pakistani government to take decisive action after an attack on a Geo TV van in Karachi. The attack resulted in the death of a technician and injuries to a driver, highlighting the urgent need for journalist protection.

Summary

NEW YORK: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Tuesday that government officials’ condemnation of an attack on a Geo TV van in Karachi will ring hollow unless the perpetrators of this crime were brought to justice.

Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator said police must clearly establish a motive for the attack. "If the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is ever going to establish its credibility as a protector of journalists, now is the time."

A Geo TV technician was killed and a driver injured in the shooting. Arshad Ali Jaffery, a technician, was shot seven times in the attack, and the driver was shot twice in the shoulder but managed to drive to a hospital, police told local media. Two other Geo media workers near the van escaped injury. – Committee to Protect Journalists