(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ statement: New York, February 4, 2002—Recent reports have suggested that a flurry of e-mails containing conflicting claims regarding Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl were hoaxes. This gives us strong hope that Danny is still alive. We urge Danny’s captors to make contact privately with his employer, or […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ statement:
New York, February 4, 2002—Recent reports have suggested that a flurry of e-mails containing conflicting claims regarding Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl were hoaxes. This gives us strong hope that Danny is still alive. We urge Danny’s captors to make contact privately with his employer, or publicly through the news media, with assurances that Danny is still alive. One way to do this would be to provide a photograph of Danny holding today’s newspaper.
We hope that the appeals calling for Danny’s release have reached the people who are holding Danny. These appeals have come from Pakistani journalists and other journalists around the world, from Danny’s wife Mariane, from prominent Muslims the world over, from leading figures in Pakistan, from the international press freedom community, and from many others. We hope this unprecedented outpouring of concern has made clear to those holding Danny that kidnapping a journalist is not an effective political strategy. Danny’s captors must now understand that their political demands will not even be listened to until Danny has been released, and that the publicity they have gained from taking Danny captive has been universally negative.
If Danny’s captors want to get their political message to the public, they should release him immediately so that he can convey their concerns to the world.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is a New York-based, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the defense of press freedom around the world.
