KARACHI, Nov 02 (DNA): Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in his message on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, has said that protecting journalists from serious crimes including threats, violence, harassment and murder was a shared responsibility of the state and society.
He stressed that remaining silent on crimes against journalists or allowing perpetrators to escape punishment amounts to silencing the truth, denying justice and suppressing the public’s right to information.
The PPP Chairman said that journalists play a fundamental role in bringing facts to the public, holding the corridors of power to account, and raising awareness and consciousness in society.
The escape of those involved in crimes against journalists from the grip of the law poses a grave threat to press freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the unanimous Constitution of 1973 guaranteed every citizen the fundamental right to freedom of expression and protecting this right was the constitutional and moral responsibility of a democratic state.
He said that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, during her first tenure in government, had abolished the black laws of the dictator Zia-ul-Haq’s era that were used to suppress press freedom and silence the voice of the press.
This historic step, he said, expressed the resolve that democracy cannot do without space for dissent and a free press.
The PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reaffirmed that the PPP will continue its struggle for press freedom, freedom of expression and the protection of journalists, because without a free press, neither can democracy grow stronger nor can the people be kept informed and empowered.
