{"id":6345,"date":"2018-09-24T06:25:09","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T06:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/?p=6345"},"modified":"2021-12-15T06:26:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T06:26:00","slug":"journalism-is-not-a-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/journalism-is-not-a-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalism is not a crime"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container hundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-padding-left:180px;--awb-margin-top:40px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"width:104% !important;max-width:104% !important;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_4_5 4_5 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:80%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:2.4%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:2.4%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p>Press release<\/p>\n<p><strong>Journalism is not a crime<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Lahore, 24 September 2018<\/em>. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) is greatly perturbed to learn that the Lahore High Court has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for journalist Cyril Almeida, requiring him to appear at the next hearing of a case seeking action against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on charges of treason.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement issued today, HRCP has termed the court\u2019s decision \u2018regrettable\u2019, adding that \u2018Mr Almeida, a widely read and highly respected journalist, is being hounded for nothing more than doing his job \u2013 speaking on the record to a political figure and reporting the facts. As a law-abiding citizen, Mr Almeida has no reason not to appear before the court as directed. Placing him on the Exit Control List (ECL) and issuing a non-bailable warrant is an excessive measure.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The ease with which Mr Almeida\u2019s interview with the former Prime Minister was perceived as an attempt to allegedly defame state institutions, and the pace at which this has spiraled into charges of treason, only serve to further choke press freedom in Pakistan. Journalism \u2013 sensible, rational, independent journalism \u2013 is not a crime. It most certainly is not treason. HRCP strongly urges the honorable court to give Mr Almeida the opportunity to appear at the scheduled hearing of his own volition and to have his name removed from the ECL immediately.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Mehdi Hasan<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Chairperson<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_1_5 1_5 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:20%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:9.6%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:9.6%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-widget-area awb-widget-area-element fusion-widget-area-1 fusion-content-widget-area\" style=\"--awb-title-size:18px;--awb-title-color:#333333;--awb-padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><style type=\"text\/css\" data-id=\"tweets-widget-2\">#tweets-widget-2 li { border-color:#ebeaea;}<\/style><div id=\"tweets-widget-2\" class=\"widget tweets\" style=\"border-style: solid;border-color: #ebeaea;border-color:transparent;border-width:0px;\">\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div style=\"overflow:hidden\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"twitter-timeline\" data-dnt=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HRCP87\" data-tweet-limit=\"5\" data-width=\"\" data-height=\"900\" width=\"\" height=\"900\" data-theme=\"light\" data-link-color=\"#ff9800\" data-border-color=\"#ebeaea\" data-chrome=\"\">Tweets by HRCP87<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><div class=\"fusion-additional-widget-content\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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