World Press Freedom Day on May 3

By Unb, Dhaka
30 April 2006, 18:00 PM
Journalists across the world will observe the World Press Freedom Day on May 3 to protest against persecution and harassment of their colleagues and closure of news media organisations in many countries.

The journalists will take a fresh oath to fight against those who are trying to curb press freedom. Nearly 500 journalists were arrested and jailed around the world in 2005, according to a statistics.

In a statement Sunday, CJA International President Hassan Shahriar said the scenario is the same in a number of Commonwealth countries where journalists have been protesting against violations by governments as well by others.

"The media cannot sit idle; it will continue to highlight governments' incompetence, corruption, mismanagement, lack of transparency and absence of accountability, no matter how draconian the rulers are," he said.