Tag: Reporters without borders

  • Journalist removed from PTV panel after questioning PM Shehbaz

    Journalist removed from PTV panel after questioning PM Shehbaz

    President of Lahore Press Club, Azam Chaudhry, was dismissed by state-run PTV after questioning Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the “diminishing space for freedom of speech” and the increased restrictions over media in Pakistan during a press conference in the provincial capital. 

    Chaudhry posed a two-part question to the prime minister, addressing both widespread media restrictions in the country as well as the interim government’s plan to continue executing the current economic policy. He inquired about the end of media restrictions, specifically, when would journalists be granted the freedom to speak and write without constraint. 

    In response, Prime Minister Shehbaz expressed his disapproval of curbs on media freedom but deflected responsibility to Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb, while acknowledging the need to distinguish between politics and the authority of the state, emphasized that the two should be treated separately.

    In a conversation with The Current, Chaudhry revealed that he was reportedly told by PTV right after the conference that he would not be invited back to his regularly scheduled program Ba-khaber, of which he is one of the pioneer journalists since 2022. 

    He also shared that he was informed earlier in the day that PTV would be doing a panel program after the press conference with two other journalists, Sajjad Mir and Salman Ghani. However, after his questions to PM Shehbaz, he was taken off-air and told that he was no longer with PTV.

    Many news platforms have reported that Azam Chaudhry lost his contract with the state channel; he asserts that he never claimed to be an employee of PTV. He was working as a freelance journalist, with an ‘approval letter’ stating he would be paid PKR 18,000 per program appearance (for Ba-khaber), for three programs per week. 

    According to Chaudhry, the moment the press conference concluded, PTV verbally conveyed to him that he would not be invited back to present on Ba-khaber, so he could take his leave. 

    Speaking to The Current, Chaudhry chuckled at how well-punctuated his point at the press conference became after his dismissal. “I talked about freedom of expression at the press conference, and I was off-aired right after – it proves my initial point [of ongoing media restrictions]”. 

    Ironically enough, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was reportedly discussing his government’s media-friendly policy at the very same press conference, chiding the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for only inviting “chosen journalists” to media interactions. According to the Tribune, however, leading journalists from prominent English dailies were excluded from this particular press conference.

    Marriyum Aurangzeb tweeted earlier that the story is “completely false and baseless”. She reiterated Dar’s point of the previous PTI government being declared a ‘Press Freedom Predator’ by Reporters Without Borders, and only allowing selected reporters and journalists to its press conferences. 

    In conversation with the Express Tribune, Chaudhry said journalists in Pakistan were operating in a “very suffocating environment”, where they were not allowed to express themselves freely. 

    “I was not fired on establishment’s orders, I was fired by this government, but in the larger scheme of things, people would blame them.” he said, adding that this tenure also “exposes Pakistan People’s Party and their claims of being upholders of democratic principles”.

  • Shehryar Afridi calling Pakistani community in Europe to physically attack a journalist is unacceptable, says RSF

    Shehryar Afridi calling Pakistani community in Europe to physically attack a journalist is unacceptable, says RSF

    Reporters Without Borders also known as Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) took to Twitter to condemn the attack on Younas Khan, a journalist who questioned the chairperson of the Parliamentary Special Committee on Kashmir Shehryar Khan Afridi in France during an event.

    RSF’s condemnation comes in relevance to Afridi’s leaked audio, where he was not happy with the organisers of the event during which Younas Khan questioned him whether he had any interactions with parliamentarians or Tink Tank when he was touring France.

    RSF tweeted, “Pakistan: #RSF strongly supports Paris-based Pakistani journalist @younaskhan1977, who is now the target of death threats after he was thrashed and insulted by a famous Pakistani politician, @ShehryarAfridi1, recently visiting #France.”

    “@younaskhan1977’s only wrongdoing was to ask a question that displeased @ShehryarAfridi1. In a leaked audio clip, the politician can be heard calling members of the Pakistani community in Europe to physically attack the journalist. These threats are unacceptable,” added RSF.

    Afridi’s leaked audio revealed that he was unhappy and could be heard talking to the organisers that he came to the event at their request. “If I did not answer the questions there, people would have said that I was scared and ran away,” said Afridi.

    “When the journalist was asking me questions, why did you [organisers] stay silent, why didn’t you ask him why this news was published?” Afridi questioned using explicit language.

    Shehryar Afridi told the organisers of the ceremony that they did not miss the chance to demean him, adding, “As far as I am concerned, it would have been good, but it is a matter of Pakistan’s honour.”

    “If you do not ask this journalist about the news, I will not spare you,” warned Afridi.

  • ‘PM Khan not a press freedom predator’, says govt

    ‘PM Khan not a press freedom predator’, says govt

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has strongly rejected the Paris-based media watchdog’s report, which lists Prime Minister Imran Khan among the world’s 37 worst rulers when it comes to press freedom.

    The angry reaction from Khan’s government came in response to a report by Reporters Without Borders titled, “Press freedom predators gallery — old tyrants, two women, and a European,” reports Associated Press (AP).

    Pakistan’s Information Ministry in a statement on Tuesday rejected the allegations, saying Khan’s government believed in “freedom of expression and media independence”.

    In a statement, the ministry said it was surprising that Reporters Without Borders “has jumped to the conclusion” that media in Pakistan are under draconian censorship measures by Khan’s government. It said the government has been “taking all possible measures to create a congenial environment for journalists to perform their professional obligations”.

    “It appears that the report that (Reporters Without Borders) has issued is an attempt to malign the elected representative of the people of Pakistan, without any corroborative evidence,” the ministry said.

    The ministry said it hoped that the watchdog in the “future will avoid such irresponsible journalism”.

    Reporters Without Borders has published a gallery of grim portraits on its official website. It includes 37 heads of state or government who crack down massively on press freedom. Some of these “predators of press freedom” have been operating for more than two decades while others have just joined the blacklist, which for the first time includes two women and a European predator.

  • Reporters Without Borders calls PM Khan a predator, Marriyum Aurangzeb agrees

    Reporters Without Borders calls PM Khan a predator, Marriyum Aurangzeb agrees

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb has claimed that the latest report of the Reporters Without Borders also known as Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), is a charge-sheet against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, reports Dawn.

    Reporters Without Borders categorically calls Prime Minister Imran Khan a ‘predator since taking oath’. The report has been published under the caption “RSF’s 2021: Press freedom predators gallery – old tyrants, two women and a European.”

    In a statement on Monday, Marriyum Aurangzeb said Imran Khan’s alleged “authoritarian attitude” and character was destroying Pakistan’s image abroad.

    “The report says that the PTI government is worse than military dictatorships in Pakistan when it comes to press freedom. The Human Rights Watch, Pakistan Press Freedom Report, and Freedom Network Report had already declared the Imran government as the worst media gagging administration in the history of the country,” said Aurangzeb.

    Aurangzeb said the latest report of the Reporters Without Borders had exposed the “predatory behaviour” of the government. She said the actions by the PTI government had not only reflected negatively on Pakistan’s journalism but also adversely affected the country’s position when it came to Financial Action Task Force and the GSP Plus status by the European Union.

    “It mentions that journalists are harassed, abducted, and assaulted for crossing the red lines defined by the state. The report also pointed out that freedom of expression on social media is also being curbed through new dark and draconian laws,” she said while quoting from the report.

    Meanwhile, Focal Person to the Prime Minister on Digital Media Dr Arslan Khalid took to Twitter and called the RSF report a “typical propaganda”.

    Arslan further added that it was comical that the RSF was talking about free speech and yet calling people trolls who “dare to disagree with journalists”.

    Reporters Without Borders has published a gallery of grim portraits on its official website. It includes 37 heads of state or government who crack down massively on press freedom. Some of these “predators of press freedom” have been operating for more than two decades while others have just joined the blacklist, which for the first time includes two women and a European predator.

    19 of these predators rule countries that are coloured red on the RSF’s press freedom map, meaning their situation is classified as “bad” for journalism, and 16 rule countries coloured black, meaning the situation is “very bad.” The average age of the predators is 66. More than a third (13) of these tyrants come from the Asia-Pacific region, says the report.

    Besides Prime Minister Imran Khan, the RSF list includes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Chinese President Xi Jingping, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajik President Emamoli Rakhmon, Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, King of Bahrain Hamed bin Isa Al Khalifa and Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un.