PPF appeals Pak. Chief Justice to release commission report on attacked journalist

The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) has appealed before the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, to direct the concerned authorities in officially releasing the leaked report of the Inquiry Commission in the attack on veteran journalist two years ago.

The government was forced to set up a judicial commission in response to national and international furor over the firing at renowned journalist and talk show host Hamid Mir of Geo Television at Karachi on April 19, 2014. Mir received six bullet wounds on his body in that attack and nearly escaped death.

Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali, in a letter to Chief Justice Jamali yesterday said that the leaking of the report rather than official release has make it almost impossible to have serious, informed national debate on the report dealing with extremely important issue of press freedom and safety of media professionals.

Ali appealed to the Chief Justice to direct the concerned authorities to clarify if the leaked report iwas authentic, and if so then release it officially along with all annexures and appendixes.

He also brought to the notice of the Chief Justice the important factual error regarding Musa Khankhel, reporter of Geo and Jang Group, who in the leaked report has been described as "bad Taliban chief".

Khankhel was abducted and murdered at gunpoint while on duty on February 18, 2009 and his body was found with his hands and feet tied.

Ali asserted that all media organisations within and outside Pakistan were unanimous that Khankhel was murdered during his journalistic assignment and labeling him as "bad Taliban chief" was a great injustice to his memory. He appealed for the correction of the erroneous reference to Khankhel.

Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) is an independent media documentation and training centre working for almost five decades to defend and promote freedom of the press in Pakistan and internationally.