Imran urged to approve undiluted version of journalist safety bill

The Karachi-based Editors for Safety (EfS) has urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to approved a landmark bill aimed at ensuring safety and security of journalists across Pakistan against intimidation, abduction, torture and murder.

The EfS, a forum comprising a large number of newspaper editors and directors at leading television channels, said in a statement on Wednesday that the draft bill, once approved, would be a significant first step in fulfilling a long-standing demand of Pakistani journalists to check the prevailing culture of impunity for crimes against them, reports Dawn news.

The statement said the bill was presented before the federal cabinet on Tuesday for approval, but for some unexplained reasons the cabinet decided to club it with an earlier legislation prepared by the Information Ministry and sent it to the Law Ministry for vetting.

"The EfS would like to remind the government that two more journalists were murdered in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkwa over the last 10 days. During the last three decades nearly 70 journalists have been killed in the line of duty, and ironically only three of these cases have been solved," Dawn news quoted EfS convener Zaffar Abbas as saying in the statement/

"We urge Prime Minister Imran Khan to persuade his cabinet to approve the bill in its present form as it provides the necessary safeguards against all forms of threats and intimidation, and allows journalists to perform their professional responsibilities without fear."IANS