Pakistan: CFWIJ Is Alarmed By The First-Ever Forced Disappearance Of A Pakistani Woman Journalist
Location: Pakistan, Lahore
Date: May 17, 2017
Zeenat Shehzadi has been missing since August 2015. After being recovered by security agencies, the journalist has disappeared once more.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is alarmed by the kidnapping of Zeenat Shahzadi, a freelance journalist. It is believed that Shahzadi was taken forcibly by security agencies.
A number of journalists and bloggers have been abducted in Pakistan in recent times, however, Shahzadi was the first woman to ever be taken in the country’s history. Shahzadi has been missing since August 19, 2015. Just over a month ago, her youngest brother committed suicide because of her disappearance.
The journalist had been creating freelance content for local news channels before she was taken. She had been working on the case of Hamid Ansari, and Indian citizen who had gone missing in Pakistan. Her work put the case under the microscope, forcing security agencies to acknowledge their custody of Hamid.
Our Founding Director, Kiran Nazish says the disappearance is worrying. “The fact that Zeenat was taken shows the heights to which censorship has reached in Pakistan. We find is exceedingly alarming that a woman reporter was taken for simply doing her job, and we hope that this does not turn into a precedence.”
The manner in which she was taken, in broad daylight, shows that state agencies had no qualms about what they were doing,” she added.
We at the Coalition urge the authorities to act swiftly to produce and release Shahzadi. Journalists should be allowed to perform their work without worrying for their own lives.
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The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world, and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
Follow us on Instagram @womeninjournalism and Twitter @CFWIJ.
Our website is WomenInJournalism.org and we can be reached at press@womeninjournalism.org
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
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