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Press Release

6 July 2022

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia is concerned about the restrictions and repression faced by journalists in recent days. Photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Sanna Irshad Mattoo has been barred from leaving India to visit France, where she was invited to exhibit her work at the prestigious international photojournalism festival of Arles.

Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of Alt News, a fact-checking agency, has been arrested and jailed for "hurting religious sentiments" for tweeting an image four years ago.

We note that at the recent G7 meeting held in Germany, India’s Prime Minister committed "to protect free speech, online and offline.” While appreciating that commitment, the FCC South Asia hopes that such commitments are implemented, and any action against journalists is proportionate, transparent and backed by evidence.

12 May 2022

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia (FCC South Asia), New Delhi, joins the global media fraternity in condemning and mourning the tragic loss of Shireen Abu Akleh, a prominent Al Jazeera news reporter.

She was reported shot by Israeli forces while she was covering the Israeli Palestinian conflict. She was killed despite wearing a vest with Press written on it.

She was a known face as she has converted the news in the region for more than 25 years.

FCC supports the global call for a thorough and independent investigation that clarifies all the circumstances of this incident.

It is unacceptable for target journalists perfoming their job. Journalists covering conflict situations must be ensured safely and protection at all time.

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia learned Friday 16 July 2021 that Reuters photojournalist and FCC member Danish Siddiqui was killed on assignment in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Danish was a fiercely talented photojournalist whose pictures eloquently and forcefully told the story of South Asia. It is a devastating loss for his family, friends, colleagues and the Delhi journalist community, among whom he was universally admired. More often than not, the singular image that defined the biggest news of the day, resonant for its humanity and artistry, was taken by Danish. He will be remembered for his intelligence, artistry.

30, October 2018
NEW DELHI, October 30: The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia (FCC), New Delhi, condemns the killing of Doordarshan (DD) News Cameraman MrAchyutanandSahu by Naxalites in poll-bound Chhattisgarh state’s Dantewada district on Tuesday.

Two policemen were also killed and two more injured in the attack in Nilawaya village under the Aranpur police station.

Mr Sahu was on election duty along with a reporter and a lighting assistant.

In the last 26 years since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) started keeping a record of journalistic deaths in 1992, as many as 49 Indian media professionals have lost their lives while performing their job.

We convey our condolences to Mr Sahu’s bereaved family.

S Venkat Narayan
President, FCC

04, September 2018
NEW DELHI, September 4: The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia (FCC), New Delhi, is deeply disappointed by the grave injustice done to Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, the two award-winning Reuters journalists who were sentenced to seven years in prison by the Myanmar Government on Monday.

We strongly condemn their being locked up in jail on cooked-up charges for revealing the truth to the world about the plight of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

It seems nothing has really changed in military-controlled Myanmar despite Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi being the State Counsellor or Prime Minister. Freedom of the press is essential for democracy’s survival, and journalists must not be punished for telling the truth.

The FCC seeks Aung San Suu Kyi’s prompt intervention, demands the journalists’ immediate release, and calls for an impartial review of the case on appeal.

S Venkat Narayan
President, FCC

New Delhi.
04 September 2018

August 08, 2018
#FreeShahidulAlam The Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia (FCC), New Delhi, condemns his arrest and ill-treatment by the police, and demands his immediate release.

June 15, 2018

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia (FCC), New Delhi, condemns the brutal and senseless killing of senior Kashmiri journalist Shujat Bukhari in Srinagar on 14/6/18.

We demand an immediate probe into this dastardly crime, and appeal to the authorities to find the guilty and punish them.

S Venkat Narayan
President, FCC.

April 30, 2018

NEW DELHI, April 30: The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asiastrongly condemns today’s double suicide bombing attack in Kabul (Afghanistan), in which at least 25 people were killed, including at least nine journalists.

The journalists were reportedly killed in a second blast after rushing to the scene of the first attack. The incident appears to be the worst such incident in Afghanistan since 2001.

Among the dead was Agence France-Press Chief Photographer Shah Marai.

Some reports suggest that the second suicide bomber disguised himself as a journalist and rushed in with other photographers, and triggered the explosives.

This is a cowardly attack on Afghanistan’s courageous journalists, and we strongly condemn it. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims.

This is not the first time that journalists have been targeted. On January 20, 2016, a similar suicide bombing in Kabul had killed seven employees of the Afghan Tolo TV station.

We are particularly concerned that journalists and first responders to the first suicide bombing were deliberately targeted, and the second suicide bomber had disguised himself as a journalist.

We urge the Afghan authorities to thoroughly investigate this incident.

S Venkat Narayan
President, FCC

Three months ago, Myanmar police invited two Reuters reporters to a restaurant in northern Yangon. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had been investigating the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men who were buried in a mass after being hacked to death or shot by ethnic Rakhine Buddhist villagers and soldiers.

At the dinner, police handed the pair some documents. They were arrested almost immediately afterward and later charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

On the 100th day since the arrest of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, Foreign Correspondents' Clubs throughout Asia are again calling for their immediate release. The two journalists were engaged in normal reporting activities, and had not committed any wrongdoing. All charges against them should be dropped.

Their trial is now underway, with a verdict possible in the coming weeks. The outcome will have repercussions for Myanmar and the entire region, where press freedom is increasingly under attack.

We call on Aung San Suu Kyi and her civilian government to act to defend press freedom as the country undertakes its transition to democracy. It is vital that Myanmar respects the beneficial role of a free and independent media and ensures that journalists are able to work without threat of retaliation.

We also call on all those who believe in press freedom to keep up the pressure on authorities who want to silence journalists, in Myanmar and elsewhere around the globe. One easy place to start is by signing a petition for their release: goo.gl/1kPTwX

“We are not doing anything wrong,'' Kyaw Soe Oo told reporters after the pair were formally charged. “Please help us by uncovering the truth.”

#FreeWaLoneKyawSoeOo

Foreign Correspondents Association Singapore
Foreign Correspondents' Club of China
National Press Club of Australia
SOPA Editorial Committee
The Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia, New Delhi

21/03/2018