PAKISTAN.— Irina Bokova, head of the UNESCO, has condemned the murder of Pakistani journalist Munir Shakar and is calling on authorities to ensure his killers are brought to justice.
“It is essential that the perpetrators of this crime be brought to justice as soon as possible,” said Irina Bokova. “Journalists must be provided with reasonable conditions of security if they are to exercise the basic human right of freedom of expression and provide people with the independent information they require to exercise their democratic rights responsibly,” she added.
Shakar, a senior journalist and member of Khuzdar Press Club, and correspondent of Online News Network and Balochi TV Sabzbagh, was gunned down in Khuzdar district on Sunday, 14 August.
Shakar was heading home from the Press Club In Khuzdar when several unidentified men opened fire on him. He was immediately rushed to District Headquarters Hospital where he died of his injuries.
The Rural Media Network, a Pakistani Non-Governmental Organization, claim Shakar is the 13th journalist that has been reported to have been killed in Pakistan this year.
Just this past December, Mohammad Khan Sasoli, president of Khuzdar Press Club, was gunned down in the town while returning home.
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists has condemned the killing of Shakar. Pervaiz Shaukat, PFUJ president condemned the killing, saying in a statement that his murder reveals the government’s failure in safeguarding the lives of journalists in Pakistan.
Balochistan Union of Journalists have also condemned the murder of the journalist, demanding the killers be brought to justice.
Source: RMNP
August 31, 2011
Middle East, Pakistan