The government's responsibility in protecting the press will be one of the topics of discussion at an international conference on safety and security of journalists in Pakistan.
UPDATE: Pakistan’s new effort to improve safety, combat impunity (CPJ, 15 March 2013)
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 5 March 2013 CPJ Blog post:
By Bob Dietz, CPJ Asia Program Coordinator
Owais Toheed, head of ARY News, cancelled his speaking slot for Wednesday at the conference I’m attending in Islamabad. Organized by UNESCO, the Open Society Foundations, Intermedia, and International Media Support, the meeting’s title says it all: International Conference on Safety and Security of Journalists in Pakistan. The reason Toheed couldn’t attend is because he was tearing toward Hyderabad, where one of ARY’s investigative camera crews was attacked earlier today.
It was a big crew-apparently seven or eight, including the driver. But they were heavily outnumbered by the thugs who didn’t want them around. Two of the crew’s members were wounded by gunfire and others badly beaten when they tried to start taping in a neighborhood of Hyderabad notorious for trafficking in drugs and women.
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