Journalist Hayatullah Khan, who was abducted and then killed in North Waziristan, was posthumously awarded for championing the cause of
press freedom recently
The PPF-Aslam Ali Press Freedom
award 2006 ceremony, instituted by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) with the support of UNESCO, was held in Karachi recently. The award is named after (late) Aslam Ali, founding trustee of Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) and chairman of Pakistan Press International (PPI) news agency. In 2000, Ali was recognised by the International Press Institute (IPI) as one of the 50 press freedom heroes of the 20th century.
The award was posthumously given to Hayatullah Khan, who was abducted and later killed in North Waziristan. He was the correspondent of daily Ausaf, Islamabad and
photo correspondent of the European Press Photo Agency. Khan was selected for the posthumous award in recognition of his contributions and sacrifices for the freedom of the Press. The award carries a cash prize of Rs100,000 which was received by the brother of the late journalist, Ihsan Ahmad on behalf of Khan’s widow.
Hayatullah Khan was found dead on June 16, 2006 in the North Waziristan town of Mir Ali, from where he was abducted on December 5, 2005. He had been shot in the back of the head and was in handcuffs.
Khan was kidnapped soon after he photographed the remnants of a US-made Hellfire missile that killed Hamza Rabia, a senior Al Qaeda member from Egypt, in Miram Shah. The incident took place on December 1 and Khan took the pictures on December 4, which were widely distributed by the European Press Photo
agency on the same day. He disappeared a day later. The pictures were an apparent contradiction of the official explanation that Rabia had died in a blast caused by explosives located within the house, and not from an aerial attack.
The kidnapping was shrouded in mystery with rumours of Khan being in the custody of the Taliban, Americans and Pakistani security forces, while all denied holding him. The government instituted an inquiry commission but the report has not yet been released to the public despite recurring demands by national and international media organisations.
Some other victimised journalists from various publications and TV channels were also present on the occasion. They expressed their views on press freedom and shared their experiences of how they went through physical and mental torture by political and non-political forces for bringing out the truth.
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