ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday his government was “fully committed” to media freedom while describing his immediate predecessor Imran Khan as “press freedom predator.”
Sharif issued the statement only a day after World Press Freedom Day which is annually observed on May 3.
According to Human Rights Watch, Pakistani journalists face “serious obstacles to their work, including harassment, intimidation, assault, arbitrary arrest and detention, abduction, and death.”
“Pakistan fell 12 points on Press Freedom Index during last year of Imran Khan’s govt & 18 points during his tenure,” the prime minister said in a Twitter post. “It not only earned him shameful title of ‘press freedom predator’ but also placed our democracy in bad light. We are fully committed to freedom of press & speech!”
Sharif’s statement follows concerns raised by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a news conference in Washington wherein he said media restrictions were limiting Pakistan’s ability to progress.
Asked by a Pakistani journalist if the United States had been taking up the issue of media curbs with governments in his country, Blinken said it was part of the engagements of American officials with their Pakistani counterparts.
“This is also a feature of the annual Human Rights Reports that we put out, and, of course, we are aware of significant restrictions on media outlets and civil society more broadly in Pakistan,” he said.
“A vibrant free press, an informed citizenry are key for any nation and its future, including Pakistan, and I think these practices that we see undermine freedom of expression,” he continued. “They undermine peaceful assembly. They undermine Pakistan’s image as well as its ability to progress. So, it is something that comes up both in our direct engagements and in the work that we are doing every day.”
Sharif’s administration recently disbanded a media regulator that many feared was created to stifle dissent and institutionalize censorship.
The Pakistan Media Development Authority was formed by the previous government and was empowered to impose financial penalties and announce prison sentences for disseminating “fake news.”
