14 journalists murdered in 13 months

Zaman Ali, a reporter who covered organized crime for the Urdu-language newspaper Extra News, was brutally murdered on 2 April in the Karachi suburb of Lyari, one of the most dangerous areas of the city. “The number of journalists killed in Pakistan in the past 13 months now totals 14,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We are appalled by this permanent state of violence, which is paralysing the media in Pakistan. Not one of these crimes has been solved. We call on the authorities to break this cycle of impunity and to conduct a thorough enquiry into Ibrahim’s murder without delay, in order to establish the motives and arrest those responsible.” A Karachi-based journalist specializing in crime reporting told Reporters Without Borders: “A gang must have been unhappy about what he was writing. We can see no other possible explanation for this killing.” Witnesses said the victim, who was 42, was gunned down just after attending a meeting of supporters of the late Benhazir Bhutto in the Liaqatabad district. Afzal Nadeem Dogar, a journalist with Geo News TV who also specializes in covering serious crime, told Reporters Without Borders: “You take big risks if you work as a crime reporter in Karachi, as Ali’s murder proves.” Ali is the second journalist to be murdered in Karachi since the start of the 2011. Wali Khan Babar of Geo News TV was gunned down on 13 January.