LAHORE (National Times): Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) Secretary General Shakil Ahmed met International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Secretary General Anthony Bellanger at the IFJ headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, where they discussed the issues and challenges being faced by Pakistan’s media industry and media workers.

During the meeting, Shakil Ahmed briefed Anthony Bellanger on the difficulties confronting the Pakistani media, saying that the suspension of advertisements to several media organisations by the government has not only resulted in alleged unlawful layoffs of media workers but has also forced several organisations to shut down.

He said media workers were facing unlawful dismissals, non-payment of monthly salaries, salary cuts, harassment incidents and various security threats. He added that PFUJ President Rana Muhammad Azim and several senior journalists had also been receiving death threats.

Shakil Ahmed further said journalists were facing what he described as baseless cases under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) and the National Cyber Crime Agency (NCCA), while press freedom was facing serious threats.

Expressing concern over the situation, IFJ Secretary General Anthony Bellanger assured Pakistani journalists and media workers that, as in the past, the IFJ would once again write to the Government of Pakistan, urging it to take immediate steps to resolve the problems facing the media industry and journalists.

He said the IFJ would also raise the issue at the international level, while journalists’ unions affiliated with the IFJ in different countries would write to the Government of Pakistan for the resolution of these issues.

Anthony Bellanger further said that he would soon visit Pakistan along with an IFJ delegation and meet Pakistani authorities to raise his voice over the problems faced by journalists.

He assured the PFUJ and Pakistani journalists that the IFJ stood with them and would not leave them alone in such difficult circumstances.