Assault on media persons Bilawal proposes courts’ cognisance

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Thursday that cases of assault on journalists across the country should be heard in court. He said this while chairing a meeting of the Human Rights Committee of the National Assembly.

Bilawal discussed the recent attacks on journalists and the Protection of Journalists and Media Bill. He said he agreed with the minister for human rights that a sub-committee should be formed on the Journalist Protection Bill.

Bilawal said that if the bill was passed without the review of the opposition, the opposition would reject it. He said that there are many points in the Sindh Journalist Protection Bill which were not in the bill before the National Assembly.

Like the Aziz Memon case, other cases of assault on journalists across the country should be heard in court,” he said.

He said that a sub-committee of the Standing Committee on Human Rights should be formed on the Journalist Protection Bill. He also invited a PTI member to head the sub-committee so that the bill could be reviewed soon.