Prime Minister reaffirms Govt’s commitment to press freedom

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, in her message to mark the observance of World Press Freedom Day yesterday, said that her People’s Partnership Government will always defend media freedom in T&T. She said the observance provided all with an opportunity to evaluate press freedom in the world. Persad-Bissessar said the people of T&T were very fortunate to have press freedom enshrined in the Constitution as a fundamental right. She said World Press Freedom Day was a reminder to all governments to respect press freedom and to support free media and remember journalists who died in the line of duty. She said in 2011, 62 journalists across the world died while doing their jobs.

 

The PM said the free media included the Internet and social media. She noted that a free media was “an asset to any government, especially in emerging nations such as ours.” Persad-Bissessar said she was also in support of media freedom and it would never change under the PP regime. “We will defend media freedom with all our strength and legislative capacity because we know that without a free media, our democracy would be deformed,” the PM said. Persad-Bissessar also insisted “no government has the right to take away or infringe the right of the media to operate freely.” Persad-Bissessar said her two-year-old Government would “protect press freedom” in T&T.