Pressing for Freedom

Damian Collins MP | 28th May 2021 | Uncategorised

The kidnapping of journalist Roman Protasevich is only the latest, shocking assault on those who speak truth to power. By Damian Collins MP

World Press Freedom Day falls on 3 May - as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom, a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics, and a day of support for media which are targets for the restraint, or abolition of press freedom. It is also a day of remembrance for those journalists who lost their lives in the pursuit of a story. Last Sunday we saw the hijacking of a civilian aircraft by the Belorussian government in order to kidnap the journalist Roman Protasevich, an outspoken critic of President Lukashenko’s illegitimate and oppressive regime. This is one of the most audacious attacks on press freedom we have seen - but is just another of example of the increasingly brazen way that some governments seek to oppress legitimate journalism with increasingly impunity. In 2018 we saw the murder of Jamal Khashoggi by agents of the government of Saudi Arabia in the grounds of their own consulat...

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