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Arab News
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Gunmen kill journalist in southwestern Pakistan
QUETTA: Unknown armed men stormed a house in Balochistan's Awaran district in the early hours of Saturday and killed a journalist working for a mainstream news channel and a local newspaper, a Levies official said. The killing took place in Mashkay, a remote town in the mountainous Awaran district, regarded as a stronghold of Baloch separatist groups, particularly the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF). Balochistan, Pakistan's largest but least developed province, is home to a separatist insurgency led by ethnic Baloch groups, which Islamabad accuses of being backed by India. New Delhi denies the allegation. Earlier this month, Pakistan blamed India for a deadly attack on a school van in Khuzdar district that killed eight people, including six schoolchildren. Zulqarnain Baloch, a Levies official in Mashkay, told Arab News that unidentified gunmen entered journalist Latif Baloch's house at 3 a.m. and shot him dead while he was asleep with his family. 'The attackers only targeted him,' he said, adding: 'Motives behind the murder are being investigated.' According to the Press Freedom Network, an advocacy organization for media rights in Pakistan, 53 journalists were killed in the country between 2012 and 2022. Hameedullah Sherani, the network's provincial coordinator in Balochistan, said journalists in the province face serious threats while carrying out their work. 'Journalists in Balochistan have been working under threats by the state and non-state actors,' he said. 'More than 40 journalists in Balochistan have lost their lives in the line of duty over the last two decades.' The Balochistan Union of Journalists (BUJ) strongly condemned the killing and called for a high-level investigation. 'The provincial government must arrest the attackers behind the killing of Latif Baloch,' said Khalil Ahmed, BUJ president. 'Journalists are already facing severe threats in the sensitive region of Balochistan. The government has to take immediate action for the safety of working journalists.' No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, remains one of Pakistan's most dangerous regions for journalists.
Associated Press
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Dominican Republic's bill to regulate freedom of expression draws protest
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Dozens of people, including prominent journalists, marched Tuesday through the Dominican Republic 's capital to decry a bill that critics warn could lead to government censorship. The bill, which is expected to be approved, calls for the creation of an independent regulator that would oversee content published on social media and digital news sites, focusing especially on anything that would violate the privacy of children or someone's dignity. But critics say such a regulator could overreach. However, some journalists have publicly supported the bill, noting that it protects freedom of expression without prior censorship and calls for the respect of public criticism. Opponents of the bill say it is the latest measure under the administration of President Luis Abinader that appears aimed at stifling the media in the Caribbean country of more than 11 million people. Under Abinader, a newsroom located inside the National Palace in Santo Domingo was closed and journalists are now required to request access to press conferences and other events up to a week in advance. Under previous presidents, access was automatically granted to the palace with a verified press identification. Journalists also complain that government security has become more aggressive during press conferences. 'We have seen how politicians repeatedly want to curtail the freedoms we have,' Jaime Rincón, a reporter with El Nuevo Diario newspaper, told The Associated Press. 'We are marching today for that reason, but also for the repeated abuse we have seen against our colleagues.' During the march, journalists held signs and chanted, 'No to censorship! Freedom of press!' Rincón said the bill not only affects journalists' freedom of speech: 'It is a freedom that all Dominicans have, because with the internet, you can express yourself through any social network.' Rosalba Escalante, a reporter with ACD Media, who was recently pushed and stepped on by the security detail of Vice President Raquel Peña, who publicly apologized for the incident, also participated in Tuesday's march. 'Stealthily, access to the presidential press is becoming increasingly limited,' she told the AP. Abinader has not responded to the journalists' allegations, although when asked about the bill during a press conference on Monday he said he was not involved in its creation. 'I didn't even add a comma,' he said. The protest march ended at the National Palace where a manifesto was presented calling for proper access to public records and elected officials, as well as an end to 'harassment, censorship or reprisals' against journalists, among other things.
Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
Pope Leo defends free speech in call for release of jailed journalists
The Pope has called for the release of jailed journalists in an address to the 6,000 members of the press covering his election, adding that the media should refrain from 'prejudice, resentment, fanaticism and even hatred'. Speaking at the Vatican's Paul VI hall, he hailed the 'precious gift of free speech and the press' and received a standing ovation and frequent rounds of applause during his speech in Italian which began with a brief introduction in English. 'The church recognises in these witnesses — I am thinking of those who report on war even at the cost of their lives — the courage of those who defend dignity, justice and the right of people to be informed, because only informed individuals can make free choices,'
