CPJ slams blocking of journalist's YouTube channel
NEW YORK: Pakistani authorities must immediately restore access to exiled investigative journalist Ahmad Noorani's YouTube channel in Pakistan and stop law enforcement agencies harassing him and his family, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday.
'Blocking journalist Ahmad Noorani's YouTube channel and filing a criminal case against him is indicative of Pakistan's relentless campaign against exiled journalists,' said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ's Asia programme coordinator. 'It also appears that the journalist's family is being targeted back home in Pakistan. The brutal intimidation of journalists and their families must stop, and the Pakistan government must allow the media to report freely.'
US-based Noorani told CPJ that he believed his brothers' forced disappearance was because of his March 17 investigative report, which said the military was misusing its influence over civilian institutions.
CPJ's text message to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar requesting comment received no response.
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