Govt to table journalists protection bill

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to table a bill on protection of journalists in the provincial assembly to combat impunity for crimes against media and its practitioners in the province.

“The provincial government will table the bill on safety of journalists in the Assembly soon,” Advisor to Chief Minister on Information Barrister Muhammad Ai Saif, told a conference on “Safety of Journalists in Merged Tribal Districts” held by Freedom Network to launch its report on the impact on media in the tribal districts of five years of merger.

Barrister Saif agreed to work with an Action Committee, set up at the conference, to discuss proposals to include in the bill. The committee includes presidents of Khyber Union of Journalists, Peshawar Press Club, Tribal Union of Journalists and Pakistan Journalists Safety Coalition.

The 92-page report launched on the occasion, authored by Aurangzaib Khan, noted that press freedom situation and safety of journalists in tribal districts did not improve in the last five years since the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were merged into K-P.