PESHAWAR: A delegation of the Pakistan Journalists Safety Coalition (PJSC) called on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ghani here on Monday.
An official handout said the delegation comprised of Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) President Fida Khattak, Peshawar Press Club (PPC) General Secretary Zafar Iqbal, Freedom Network President Iqbal Khattak, Saiful Islam Saifi and others.
Expressing concern over the target killing of journalists, they said families of the victims had been deprived of justice as the culprits had not been brought to book so far.
The delegation members informed the speaker 11 journalists were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nine in Punjab, seven in Sindh and five in Balochistan but neither the accused could be arrested nor justice meted out to the victims’ families.
They said that the journalists and lawyers joined hands and constituted Pakistan Journalists Safety Coalition. The delegation members said the coalition would fight the legal battle for journalists and raise voice for their rights as well.
They asked the speaker to cooperate with the journalist community and play his constitutional role in making relevant laws for journalists protection.
Speaker Mushtaq Ghani said that it was the priority of the government to provide security and safety to the journalist community. He issued directives to the Information and Law departments to hold a consultative meeting where the representative body of the journalist community should also be invited.
The speaker said that the journalists and lawyers would have to brief him about the legal framework and other necessary measures for proper legislation in the assembly for the protection of the journalists’ rights.
Lauding the role played by the journalist community, Mushtaq Ghani said that the draft-bill meant for journalists safety would soon be presented in the KP assembly.
Later, KhUJ President Fida Khattak, PPC general secretary Zafar Iqbal and Freedom Network President Iqbal Khattak handed over the draft of the Impunity Report 2019 to the speaker.
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