CPNE deplores treason case against Cyril

E-Paper | March 05, 2026

ISLAMABAD: The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) has expressed concern over filing of a treason case against Cyril Almeida and placing his name on the exit control list.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Arif Nizami, the council’s president, senior vice president Imtinan Shahid and Dr Jabbar Khattak stressed that all state and non-state institutions must respect media freedom as it was “vital to a democratic culture”.

“Freedom of expression has been guaranteed in the constitution,” the CPNE recalled.

“It is not proper to persecute any journalist for interviewing a former prime minister. It is not a crime to perform journalistic duty,” the statement added. “Such actions amount to eliminating media freedom.”

The CPNE leadership said one-sided action and filing of cases against any journalist violated human rights and media freedom guaranteed by the constitution.

The statement said accepting of responsibility on the part of the publication concerned was in line with journalistic principles.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2018

Pakistan

Kalbe Ali is a senior staff reporter for Dawn based in Islamabad, with nearly 20 years of field reporting experience. He covers a diverse range of topics, including the internet, IT and telecom sectors, as well as religious affairs.

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Ustazi

Sep 27, 2018 12:34pm

It is definitely not a crime to perform journalistic duties but like Generals, Politicians and Judges, there should be a system of accountability for journalists as well.

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Parvez

Sep 27, 2018 05:18pm

There is irresponsible journalism ....... and then there is responsible journalism. To advocate that a journalist is above the law of the land is like skating on thin ice ...... it is best to let the court decided.

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Sameer

Sep 27, 2018 05:26pm

All I ask is that a guy who only wrote an article has article 6 pasted on his forehead; while the brave commando who gifted us the poison of NRO is free in Dubai!? Why the double standards?

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