Despite promises, Pakistan fails to deliver justice for murdered journalists
On 1 January 2014, journalist Shan Dahar was shot in front of a local health clinic, where he was filming and taking photographs. His murder was never solved, emphasizing the problem of impunity for crimes against journalists in Pakistan.
Despite repeated promises from Pakistan’s leadership to safeguard press freedom, the killing of journalists continues to go unpunished. A new international investigation reveals new evidence in Dahar’s murder, exposing systemic police misconduct, political negligence and impunity that has persisted for more than a decade.
New investigation exposes deep failures
The investigation “Truth Denied: How Pakistani Authorities Built an Unsolvable Case” is the eighth publication under the international initiative A Safer World for the Truth, a collaboration between Free Press Unlimited (FPU), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Soft launch of the investigation report “Truth Denied: How Pakistani Authorities Built an Unsolvable Case”, January 2026.
Over an 18-month investigation, researchers uncovered new video and photographic evidence that allowed them to reconstruct Shan Dahar’s final movements on the night of his murder. Evidence that was never examined by Pakistani authorities.
Their findings reveal three major failures by law enforcement:
- Severe mishandling of evidence
- Systematic neglect of witness and suspect protocols
- Failure to pursue alternative and politically sensitive leads
Among the most alarming revelations:
- Police admitted arrests were made solely for extortion
- At least two witnesses were coerced into giving false testimonies
- Crucial evidence was ignored or misinterpreted
- Authorities failed to investigate Dahar’s reporting on the illegal resale of donated medicines
- Medical analysis confirms Dahar died due to medical negligence after being left untreated for nine hours. He was supposed to receive care from the same doctors he was investigating for their involvement in a medicine scheme.
This short film retraces Dahar’s final hours and the investigative failures that followed, giving voice to witnesses and colleagues who continue to demand justice.
A detailed forensic breakdown of the movements, timeline and contradictions uncovered in the official police narrative.
A symbol of Pakistan’s crisis of impunity
Since 1992, not a single journalist murder case in Pakistan has received full justice, according to CPJ. A report by Freedom Network Pakistan shows that between 2012 and 2022 alone, 53 journalists were killed, with convictions in only two cases, a staggering 96% impunity rate.
On the 2025 RSF Press Freedom Index, Pakistan ranks 158 out of 180 countries, falling further from its already alarming 2024 position.
Urgent call for accountability
Together with RSF and CPJ, we demand immediate action. We urge Prime Minister Sharif and the Pakistani authorities to:
- Arrest the two absconding suspects
- Reopen an independent investigation
- Fully enforce Pakistan’s 2021 journalist safety law
- Establish permanent cooperation with independent civil-society monitors
At first glance, the case of Shan Dahar might seem old news. But it represents real people who have lost a colleague, a friend, a family member. We must ensure that they get the justice they deserve, and that crimes against journalists never happen again. We therefore call on Pakistani authorities to intensify their collaboration and information sharing with press freedom organizations. Only with transparent, objective monitoring we can break the ongoing cycle of impunity for crimes against journalists.
— Jules Swinkels, Lead Researcher for this investigation at Free Press Unlimited
