SAMSN Bulletin September 2010
SAMSN is a group of journalists’ trade unions, press freedom organisations and journalists in South Asia that have agreed to work together to support freedom of expression and association in the region. SAMSN was formed at a meeting of these groups in Kathmandu, Nepal, in September 2004. The group agreed to stand in solidarity and work together for media reform, for an independent pluralist media and to build public respect for the work of journalists in the region.
For further information on SAMSN, visit www.ifj-asia.org/page/samsn.html
Please distribute this bulletin widely among colleagues in the media.
In this bulletin:
1. Journalist Murdered In Pakistan – Demand For End To Impunity
2. Two Media Workers Killed, Eight Injured In Quetta Attacks
3. Afghanistan Broadcaster Murdered
4. Print Shop Workers Arrested In Sri Lanka
5. Exiled Journalist’s Family Threatened In Sri Lanka
6. Journalists Jailed For Contempt In Bangladesh
7. Death Threats And Attacks On Media Offices In Nepal
8. Tensions Between Indian Embassy And Media In Nepal
9. Hostile Actions Against Independent Media In Maldives
10. New Disclosure Norms For Indian Media Companies
1. Journalist Murdered in Pakistan – Demand For End To Impunity
The IFJ joined SAMSN partner the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) in demanding an immediate investigation into the murder of journalist Misri Khan in Hangu, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan’s north-west, on September 13. Khan, 50, was a senior journalist with the Daily Ausaf. He had owned a well-known news service in Hangu and served as president of the Hangu Union of Journalists. He was shot by unidentified gunmen at the Hangu Press Club, and died in hospital a short time later. He is survived by his wife and 11 children.
2. Two Media Workers Killed, Eight Injured In Quetta Attacks
The PFUJ informed SAMSN partners of the death of cameraman Ejaz Ahmed Raisani on September 6 as a result of injuries suffered in an attack on a rally in Quetta, Pakistan, on September 3. An Aaj TV media crew driver, Mohammad Sarwar, was also killed after reportedly being shot in the head and chest in gunfire that erupted after a suicide blast in the capital of Balochistan province. Another eight media workers – mostly camera operators – were injured in the blast and gunfire, according to the PFUJ.
See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/cameraman-succumbs-to-injuries-suffered-in-pakistan-attack
http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/media-staff-among-balochistan-blast-victims
3. Afghan Broadcaster Murdered
The IFJ joined SAMSN partner the Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association (AIJA) in registering outrage at the murder of Sayed Hamid Noori, a former news anchor of Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA). According to AIJA, Noori left his home late on September 5 after receiving a phone call. The caller’s identity is not known, though he was clearly someone known to Noori. Noori’s body was found with multiple stab wounds later that night, not far from his home in the Mecroryan area of Kabul. Noori, 45, had become spokesman for the speaker of the Afghan parliament after leaving RTA.
See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-condemns-murder-of-afghan-broadcaster
4. Print Shop Workers Arrested In Sri Lanka
SAMSN partner the Free Media Movement (FMM) informed the IFJ that the owner and staff of a print shop near the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo were detained on the eve of an important constitutional debate in the national parliament. The arrests followed a police raid on the shop, Sarala Graphics, in Nugegoda town, on the night of September 7. Eight workers at the print shop were arrested. Police then took the wife of the print shop owner and her two brothers into custody, compelling the owner, Jayampathy Bulathsinhala to give himself up the following day in order to secure their release.
See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-condemns-arrest-of-printing-staff-in-sri-lanka
5. Exiled Journalist’s Family Threatened In Sri Lanka
SAMSN partners in Sri Lanka report continuing threats against Waruni Balasooriya, the wife of journalist Gamini Pushpakumara, in exile from Sri Lanka since April after being dismissed as a producer with the state-owned Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) in January. In July, the IFJ noted earlier threats made to the life of Balasooriya, who remains in Sri Lanka. She lodged a complaint with police, which by all accounts was not acted upon. Balasooriya has since shifted house for her own safety. However, on the evening of September 2 she had two unidentified visitors who spoke menacingly and vowed to find and kill her husband.
http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/death-threats-to-journalists-family-in-sri-lanka
6. Journalists Jailed For Contempt In Bangladesh
On behalf of all SAMSN partners the IFJ expressed concern over the imprisonment of a reporter and the publisher and acting editor of Amar Desh, a daily newspaper published from Dhaka in Bangladesh. The three were held to be in contempt by the Bangladesh Supreme Court for an article that appeared in the daily in April, suggesting that the judiciary was predisposed towards making decisions favourable to the incumbent government.
See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-welcomes-new-disclosure-rules-for-indias-media.
7. Death Threats And Attacks On Media Offices In Nepal
SAMSN partners in Nepal reported death threats and a spate of attacks on journalists. The IFJ expressed alarm over death threats reportedly received by Damodar Bhandari, a correspondent for the English-language Annapurna Post, in Nepalganj in the southern plains (the Terai) of Nepal on August 21. The threat was reportedly delivered by email from the address of a person purporting to be acting on behalf of an underground political group, the Terai Janatantrik Party (Madesh). In a separate incident, the office of the Gatisheel daily and Image weekly in the district of Nuwakot in the Bagmati zone in north-central Nepal was attacked on September 6, when a group of people led by a local leader arrived at the office, roughed up staff and damaged equipment. In another development on September 6, a group of people vandalised the office of Anumodan daily in Kailali and manhandled the editor of the newspaper, who is a central committee member of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) and the vice-president of the FNJ’s Kailali district chapter. SAMSN partners have also reported the possibility of police complicity in an assault on journalist Lila Nath Ghimire in the eastern part of Nepal on August 15.
See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/death-threat-made-against-journalist-in-the-terai-nepal’
http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/newspaper-office-attacked-in-nepal
http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-questions-police-role-in-assault-on-journalist-in-nepal
8. Tensions Between Indian Embassy And Media In Nepal
The IFJ has joined SAMSN partners in urging India’s embassy in Nepal to clear the air after an alarming surge in tensions with the local media over issues of professional practice and ethics. The incident began with the embassy reportedly asking local Indian joint ventures to withdraw advertisements from a newspaper group whose coverage was deemed adverse to India’s interests. An imported consignment of newsprint ordered by the group was also delayed in India’s Kolkata port. Subsequent articles questioning the quality of the manufactured product sold by the Indian joint ventures were criticised for being extortionate in intent, leading to protests by media organisations in Nepal.
See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/tensions-between-indias-embassy-and-local-media-in-nepal
9. Hostile Actions Against Independent Media In Maldives
SAMSN partner the Maldives Journalists’ Association has reported an alarming spike in hostile words and actions against journalists and media organisations in the country. The offices of the privately owned VTV broadcaster in the capital, Male, were vandalised by unknown persons early on August 30. Though those responsible have not been identified, several verbal attacks on VTV by elected officials in the Maldives may have contributed to a climate of intolerance against the broadcaster, the MJA reported.
10. New Disclosure Norms For Indian Media Companies
The IFJ has joined SAMSN partners in India in welcoming new disclosure norms for Indian media organisations holding shares in companies they report on. These norms were announced by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on the advice of the Press Council of India. This followed a public campaign by SAMSN partners and some of India’s most senior journalists and public figures, after widespread irregularities and conflicts of interest possibilities were observed in recent years.
See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-welcomes-new-disclosure-rules-for-indias-media
Shamsul Islam Naz
Secretary General
PAKISTAN FEDERAL UNION OF JOURNALISTS
http://www.shamsulislamnaz.com
http://www.pfuj.pk
http://www.facebook.com/shamsul.naz
http://shamsulisalmnaz.blogspot.com/?spref=gb
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