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IFJ Urges Pakistan To Investigate Shooting Of Journalist
IFJ Urges Pakistan To Investigate Shooting Of Journalist
Media Release: Pakistan
May 6, 2011
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) in demanding that Pakistan’s authorities act on a government assurance to fully investigate a shooting attack on a journalist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Abdullah Bhittani, who works for Afghanistan’s Benawa News Agency and Independent News Pakistan (INP), suffered three bullet injuries to his right leg during an attack by two masked gunmen in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, at 11pm on April 12.
He spent three days in hospital and is still recovering from his injuries.
Bhittani, who is from the Tank frontier region in the Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), has reported on militancy in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for three years.
He moved to Rawalpindi from Peshawar in January due to concerns about his safety, after receiving threatening SMS messages from unknown numbers for about eight months before the attack.
The president of the Tribal Union of Journalists, Safdar Dawar, informed the PFUJ that Bhittani’s case was raised with Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, at a meeting on April 17. The Minister gave an assurance that authorities would conduct a full investigation and arrest the attackers.
The PFUJ, an affiliate of the IFJ, reports that so far no action has been taken.
“It is essential that Pakistan’s journalists, especially those who live and work in Pakistan’s frontier and conflict regions, are able to continue reporting safely on matters of great concern to the public in both Pakistan and globally,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.
“Pakistan’s authorities must therefore follow through on Minister Malik’s promise to fully investigate the attack on Abdullah Bhittani, to send a clear message that attacks on journalists will not be tolerated.”
The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries
Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific
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ENDS
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