Commission to be setup under ‘Journalist Protection Act’ in the offing: PM Shehbaz
ISLAMABAD, Dec 6 (SABAH): Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said media freedom and democracy reinforced each other and expressed his government’s resolve to support an environment for journalists free of intimidation and harassment.
PM Shehbaz Sharif said this while addressing at an event to mark 10 years of the United Nations’ Plan of Action organized by Journalist Safety Forum. “My government believes that no journalist or human rights activist should be called out in the line of duty,” he said, expressing his firm resolve to proactively facilitate the implementation of the ‘Journalists Safety Law.’ The Prime Minister termed a free media and freedom of expression the important pillars of a State.
PM Shehbaz Sharif said the press freedom in Pakistan had been close to the hearts of journalists and civil society. He said the journalists of the country over the years greatly contributed to press freedom and mentioned that Hamid Mir, as the chairperson of Journalist Safety Forum, faced difficult challenges including an attempt on his life.
He termed the killing of prominent journalist Arshad Sharif an extremely sad incident and said that he soon after spoke to the government of Kenya and later wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to form a judicial commission. Despite the chequered history with 33 years of military rule, the collective political efforts led to resumption of democracy to put the country on right track, he added.
He termed the 1973 Constitution a very sacred document which acts as a binding force among the units of the federation and ensured democratic values besides ensuring basic rights of citizens.
In 2013, he said, Pakistan became the first country in Asia to pass legislation on the safety of journalists and last year, the Parliament passed the landmark ‘Protection of Journalists and Media Protection Act’.
Shehbaz Sharif, on requests of the media community, assured to look into the Section 6 of the Act to prevent harassment and intimidation of journalists. He mentioned that there were still challenges facing the journalists in their line of duty and required sustained efforts by media, civil society, UN and international bodies.
He appreciated the contribution of international community in supporting economic and social development of Pakistan, particularly UNESCO and countries including Norway, Denmark and France.
He expressed confidence that the outcomes and recommendations of the Forum would help leading towards a free media in Pakistan.
Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador of France Nicolas Galey was appreciative of the legislation passed by Pakistani parliament for protection of journalists. He said this is a major step forward. He said his embassy will continue to promote media exchanges between Pakistan and France. Nicolas Galey said freedom of expression could not be termed as an obstacle in the working of a government and emphasized the need to promote safety of journalists, media pluralism, and the right to inform and be informed. He lauded Pakistan’s law on the safety of journalists as a significant step in encouraging freedom of expression.
Norway’s Ambassador to Pakistan Per Albert Ilsaas said the global community must ensure a safe environment for the journalists both online and offline. He said the Protection of Journalist and Media Professional Act by Pakistan is a major step towards ensuring the safety of journalists and media practitioners and protecting them from violence and harassment. Per Albert Ilsaas said best quality journalism provides proper information and ensure democratic values. Pakistani journalists, he said self-censored the content, which could otherwise be said directly, such the use of word establishment.
Alluding to the collaboration between Denmark and Pakistan in the field of media, Danish Ambassador to Pakistan Jakob Linulf said his country backs community journalism in Pakistan. He said our support goes to a growing eco system of media startups in the country. He said we recently arranged a visit of Pakistani journalists to Denmark to enhance their capacity to report on climate change. Jakob Linulf said it was crucial to promote freedom of expression and ensure a safe environment for journalists. He said Denmark backed the ‘community journalism’ in Pakistan. He congratulated Pakistan for its remarkable step to legislate on the safety of journalists, the first in Asia.
Chairperson Journalist Safety Forum and anchorperson Hamid Mir proposed that federal and Sindh governments must notify the safety commissions under the laws passed by the National Assembly and stressed passage of similar laws for the journalists of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Punjab.
He demanded immediate removal of the Section 6 from the Federal Journalists Safety Law, which acts as a pre-qualifier for journalist before benefiting from the law, and pointed out that it was mysteriously added to the final draft bill without the knowledge of journalists.
He called for taking journalists out of the purview of online expression through laws such as (Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) or other regulations and emphasized support by the federal and provincial governments against attacks, intimidation and harassment of women journalists. The event was attended by journalists, human rights experts and representatives of national and international organizations.
Later in the day PM Shehbaz Sharif in a statement said that “at Islamabad Journalist Safety Forum today, I highlighted steps taken by the government to ensure media freedom. In Asia, Pakistan has performed very well on the UN Plan of Action. I shared the resolve to fully implement the Protection of Journalists & Media Professionals Act”.
Responding the tweet of PM Shehbaz Sharif, senior journalist and anchorperson Hamid Mir wrote on twitter “Thanks very much Prime Minister for attending seminar on journalists safety, thanks for mentioning #ArshadSharif in your speech today and for making commitment to implement Journalists Safety Bill and forming a commission to follow the crimes against journalists #PressFreedom”.