New Call for Freedom of Expression

In an attempt to ensure adequate protection for freedom of expression, WAN- IFRA issued a resolution that called on the South African parliament to amend the Protection of State Information Bill. Under the current security bill, anyone who possesses or discloses a classified record may be prosecuted and sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment. The bill does not have a public interest defence in its present form.
Given the recent attacks on press freedom in the united states, france, Switzerland and the united Kingdom, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has requested all governments to realize that freedom of the press is crucial to good governance and mandatory to democratic society. It said that the acts of surveillance against the press will undermine transparent governance.
The resolution also demanded all democratically elected governments to seriously uphold the fundamental human right of freedom of expression in order to preserve freedom of the press  for coming generations.

Infoeditor