Kochi: The joint forum of trade unions on Thursday decided to take out a protest march to the Kerala High Court to protect the rights of journalists on December 14. This was decided at the annual convention of the joint forum held at the EMS Town Hall here. A few lawyers have been objecting to the entry of journalists at the High Court and other courts in the state. Prof M.K. Sanu, who inaugurated the convention, said the lawyers who are supposed to protect freedom of expression are objecting to the media presence which is unfortunate. “If the lawyers refuse to correct themselves it will affect the country itself,” he said.
The trade unions urged the courts to reopen media rooms at the courts, withdraw the stringent guidelines imposed by the High Court on legal reporting and asked the lawyers to stop objecting to the presence of reporters at courts. CPI secretary Kanam Rajendran, Congress leader K.V. Thomas MP, CITU state secretary Chandran Pillai, advocate Sebastian Paul, INTUC district secretary K.K. Ibrahimkutty, trade union leader L.P. Rajendran, M.M. Lawrence, Manoj Gopi, Kalathil Vijayan KUWJ leader P.A. Abdul Gafoor and C. Narayanan attended the meeting.
