Reporters sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders) released a statement on July 8 where it warned the Pakistani Government to not threaten the journalists living abroad, reports The Balochistan Post. Citing a ‘leaked Pakistani government internal memo’, the Paris-based watchdog RSF warned that if any ill befall the threatened journalists, Pakistan will be held responsible. According to the details, RSF claims of obtaining a facsimile of a ‘leaked’ memo of the Pakistani Government that names six journalists – five Pakistanis and one Afghan – of damaging Pakistan’s ‘foreign interests.’ The memo accuses the aforesaid journalists of disseminating “rhetoric against Pakistan” and of being “involved in various activities in Europe and America which are seriously damaging Pakistan’s foreign interests abroad.”
The leaked memo, according to RSF, accuses the journalists of “either participating in anti-Pakistan activities or producing anti-state content” for foreign media under pseudonyms. The memo then addresses the journalists and says: “you are requested to strictly follow [their] movements and social media accounts.” If the journalists persist, they may be “approached through proper channels to stop such rhetoric against Pakistan in future.”
According to the RSF, the memo is addressed to five recipients: Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Director-General of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting, the Director General of Military Intelligence, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is unclear, claims RSF, who leaked this document. Unlike an official document, the memo was not circulated within the Interior Ministry. Instead, it was directed only to five recipients, suggesting that it was a ‘working document.’ The memo had been circulating within the ISI since 2019.