Combating Impunity of Crimes against Press Freedom

Abstract

Worried by the rising incidence of arrests, detention, jail, harassment and even murder of journalists across the world, all of which are crimes against press freedom, this paper takes a look at the reasons for the unpunished offences against press men and women and examines the efforts made to combat the impunity of such crimes.   To accomplish this objective, the paper reviews the place of the press in society as the Forth Estate of the Realm; and discusses the specific roles of the media for the state, politics and religion. The work which is anchored on the social Responsibility Theory of the press, does an overview of press freedom, presents a roll call of past and contemporary cases of assault on the media;  and   lists possible causes of impunity of offenders against press freedom. Stating the efforts made to combat impunity of offenders against press freedom,   it mention the handicaps of the efforts to combat impunity and adduces   suggestions   for combating the impunity of crimes against press freedom.

Key words: Combating impunity, crimes, press, attack on the media