World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO’s General Conference. Since then, 3 May, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day. After 30 years, the historic connection made between the freedom to seek, impart and receive information and the public good remains as relevant as it was at the time of its signing. Special commemorations of the 30th anniversary are planned to take place during World Press Freedom Day International Conference.
May 3 acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom. It is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. It is an opportunity to:
- celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom;
- assess the state of press freedom throughout the world;
- defend the media from attacks on their independence;
- and pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
In this day we are remembering 2 journalists killed in Karabakh, Azerbaijan.
Al-Jazeera reported that, “A landmine explosion in Azerbaijan’s Kalbajar region, west of Karabakh, has killed two Azerbaijani journalists and an official in June 4, 2021. Four others were injured in Friday’s incident, which saw an anti-tank mine blow up a truck at about 11am local time (07:00GMT), Azerbaijan’s interior ministry and the office of the prosecutor general said in a statement.
The three victims were identified as local official Arif Aliyev, Maharram Ibrahimov, a reporter working for state news agency AzerTag, and Siraj Abishov, a journalist with the state-run AzTV station”.