Overview
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed a commitment to press freedom and promised effective investigations and legal action in cases targeting journalists.
- The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists reported a year-on-year 60% surge in violations, citing 142 cases nationwide and demanding transparent probes and compensation.
- National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq called journalism a pillar of democracy, highlighted the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017, and condemned killings of journalists in Gaza and IIOJK.
- Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif announced welfare measures including housing support for homeless journalists and asserted that no murders or violence against journalists occurred in Punjab under her tenure.
- Officials urged international organizations, media institutions, and civil society to support journalist safety and uphold freedom of expression.