ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has blacklisted and expelled the Asia coordinator ofglobal press freedom group the Committee to Protect Journalists.
[image: Image result for Pakistan blacklists, expels global journalists’group leader]CPJ executive director Joel Simon called the expulsion of Steven Butler“baffling” and “a slap in the face” to those concerned about press freedomin Pakistan, Daily Times has reported.
Butler was refused entry at the airport in Lahore despite having a validvisa and was returned to the United States. Butler said he was told he wason “a stop list of the Interior Ministry.”
The Pakistani government had no immediate comment Friday.
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Butler was planning to attend the Asma Jahangir Conference-Roadmap forHuman Rights in Pakistan. The conference this weekend is named forPakistan’s renowned human rights activist who died last year.
