Tragically his family is now being targetted, that despite government offers of protection.
Freedom prize honours slain Pakistani reporter
ESTANISLAO OZIEWICZ
The Toronto-based Canadian Journalists for Free Expression usually presents two annual awards to support embattled journalists around the world.
But when the press-freedom prizes are presented tonight in Toronto, a third is being added to honour Hayatullah Khan’s memory.
Mr. Khan was a 32-year-old Pakistani investigative reporter who was found dead in June, six months after being abducted in the lawless North Waziristan tribal area. The region borders southeastern Afghanistan, where the Taliban are fighting North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces.
Mr. Khan, a married father of four children, was kidnapped a day after publishing a story and photographs indicating that a U.S.-made missile had struck a home and killed a senior al-Qaeda leader, contradicting the Pakistani government’s official explanation that the blast was caused by explosives in the house.
According to press groups that have befriended Mr. Khan’s family, his family blames Pakistani security forces for his death.The government has vehemently denied the allegations, but established a judicial inquiry under pressure.
Mr. Khan’s brother, Bashir, was also slain last month. According to the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, the killing was a message to the Khan family.
The other two winners are also examples of journalists who have been harassed and threatened.
One is Abeer Al-Askary, an Egyptian who the CJFE says was assaulted by Egyptian security forces for covering demonstrations against a constitutional referendum.
The other is veteran Colombian journalist Hollman Morris, who has been the victim of death threats over his coverage of the country’s violent internal armed conflict.
The two journalists will receive $3,000 each in prize money.