Bilawal promises to end impunity of crimes against media persons

KARACHI: On the eve of the World Press Freedom Day, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the PPP will end impunity of crimes against journalists as a manifesto pledge.

"It is a sad thought on this day that scores of journalists in Pakistan have been killed or harmed otherwise during the last decade and almost in all cases the perpetrators of crimes have escaped prosecution, he said, according to a press release.

“This impunity of crimes must end; it will”.

The party will appoint an independent Special Public Prosecutor to pursue cases of crimes against journalists and also create a Journalists Protection Fund to assist victim journalists and their families, he said.

Those who attack journalists or commit crimes against them are those who fear freedom of expression and articulation of pluralistic ideas. The Party will expose these elements and also bring them to justice, he said.

The Party will also reverse the tide of systematic erosion of freedom of expression in the name of ideology and law & order, the PPP Chairman said.

He said that free flow of information and ideas empowers citizens and this requires that media persons must be able to perform their duties without fear.

The PPP Chairman also urged organs of the state to bring to justice the perpetrators of crimes against journalists for removing misgivings in this regard.

I also wish to pay tribute to all those journalists who have braved odds while performing their duties under difficult and dangerous conditions, Bilawal said.