Press Statement

PFUJ condemns media tribunal decision

20 Sep, 2019

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has strongly opposed the announcement of media tribunal being established by the Pakistan government and termed it another attack on the freedom of speech and expression.

PFUJ President GM Jamali and Secretary General Rana Muhammad Azeem condemned the decision and urged the government to withdraw this idea to establish media tribunals in the country.

“We understand that there are rules, courts and media regulatory authority in the country that have been working. The formulation of media tribunals above these bodies seems that the government wants to control the reigns of the media to use it to favour the government,” the PFUJ leadership said.

They urged the government to speed up its efforts for strengthening democratic culture, media freedom and right to expression guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan, instead of creating obstacles for smooth functioning of the media and journalist community.

The PFUJ called for an urgent withdrawal of media tribunal proposals and said that it would further slow down the resolution of issues confronted by journalist community while the working for the journalists would be more difficult. They further said that the PFUJ would stage protests against the federal government if the government did not withdraw the proposed media tribunals.