The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, today condemned the killing of three journalists: Naveen Nischal, Vijay Singh, and Sandeep Sharma in India.
“I firmly condemn the killing of Naveen Nischal, Vijay Singh and Sandeep Sharma,” the Director-General said. “The public relies on journalists to provide them with information so that they can make informed decisions. An independent, pluralistic and free press is a cornerstone of democracy.”
Naveen Nischal worked for the Hindi-language daily Dainik Bhaskar and Vijay Singh was a local freelance journalist. The two men were killed in Bihar state in eastern India on 25 March. In a separate incident, journalist Sandeep Sharma was killed in the central Indian Madhya Pradesh state on 26 March. Mr. Sharma was an investigative journalist, who had recently worked on stories about illegal sand mining for the TV station News World.
UNESCO promotes the safety of journalists through global awareness-raising, capacity-building and a range of actions, notably the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.
See also: UNESCO condemns the killing of journalists.
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Contact médias: Sylvie Coudray, s.coudray(at)unesco.org, +33 (0)1 45 68 42 12