CPNE report depicts grim picture of media freedom.

Byline: Kashif Abbasi

ISLAMABAD -- At least seven journalists were reportedly murdered and 60 booked under anti-terrorism and other laws last year as media in Pakistan continued to face extreme pressure.

This was revealed by the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) in its Pakistan Media Freedom Report 2019 issued on Sunday.

The report says that although Article 19 of the Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantee freedom of expression and free media, media in Pakistan continued to come under strict forms of physical intimidation during the year.

Even though there is a specific law on defamation, the government and other actors used the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) and Pakistan Penal Code's (criminalisation) sections against media practitioners in Pakistan, it says.

The report says the cases compiled, the number of victims involved and the sequence of events made a mockery of the freedom of media and freedom of speech in the country.

Seven journalists killed, 15 injured in line of duty

The report also contains recommendations by CPNE president Arif Nizami.

Mentioning the case of journalist Chaudhry Nasrullah, the report says the country's first-ever conviction for possession of banned material has been made as the journalist has been awarded a Asentence of five-year imprisonment.

According to available data, at least seven journalists were murdered and 15 others injured in 2019 in the line of duty. Five of the seven fallen journalists have been identified as Urooj Iqbal, Mirza Wasim Baig, Mohammad Bilal Khan, Ali Sher Rajpar and Malik Amanullah Khan.

According to the report, mysterious and unidentified actors pose the biggest threat to press freedom. Among the threats to the lives of journalists are non-state actors and outlawed militant groups. The pathetic state of unannounced impunity for those who attack the media can be derived from the fact that not a single killer or attacker of media persons has been brought to justice.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa took the lead in introducing the first provincial law on the Right to Information (RTI) followed by Punjab and Sindh. The federal capital has adopted a new legislation on RTI as well. However, in Balochistan, RTI laws remain a distant dream, report notes.

The report states that it has been claimed by the government that the cyber law PECA, 2016 will deal with cyber crimes and online harassment of women and will not be used...