The head of UN agency, which defends news media freedom, has expressed concern about the increasing number of journalists being killed in Pakistan, and called upon the authorities in South Asian nation to investigate the two most recent murders that took place in May.
Irina Bokova, the director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, in a statement issued yesterday described the situation as alarming. “The number of journalists who are paying with their lives for doing their job in Pakistan is alarming,” she said.
Abdul Razaq Gul, a journalist working for Peshawar-based Express TV, was found dead on May 19, the agency noted. He had been kidnapped while returning home the previous evening, and his body showed torture signs.
Aurengzeb Tunio was a TV reporter for the Sindhi-language Kawaish network in Lalu Ranwak village in the Sindh province. Some 20 gunmen were reported to have attacked his office, killing him, his brother and a family friend.
“I urge the authorities to investigate these killings. It is essential for freedom of expression and for good governance that those responsible for the death of journalists be brought to justice,” Ms Bokova added.
The latest killings bring to 27 the number of journalists and media workers killed in Pakistan since 2002, the UN agency noted.
—UNI