Shamsul Islam Naz

PFUJ Secretariat:

Media Release: PFUJ laments registration of case against 100 journalists in Lahore

              ISLAMABAD, April 3: The Pakistan Federal Union Journalists (PFUJ) has sharply reacted over registration of a case at the Faisal Town Police Station against about 100 journalists on the complaint of doctors of Jinnah Hospital on Friday and added that it proves that the Punjab government and the police are plying tricks to tame media persons.

           In a statement here on Saturday, the PFUJ pointed out that the police implicated media persons on criminal charges of rioting, blocking road, creating disturbance, ransacking and damaging government property, manhandling and torturing doctors.

         In the FIR among the accused, most of the journalists are office-bearers of the Punjab Union of Journalists (PUJ) and the Lahore Press Club while a number of journalists belong to various newspapers, electronic media, including photographers and cameramen who were also implicated in the case.

        The PFUJ reminded that government functionaries and people at large are fully aware that the doctors were taking law into their hands, and had thrashed crew of Express TV, and had ruthlessly beaten up and t0rtured and injured and had caused damage to camera while the mediamen were performing their duties in the wake of a death at the hospital due to negligence of doctors.

         Again when fellow journalists on receiving this information on the receipt of excesses of doctors rushed to the scene for their rescue, the doctors instead of pacifying media persons attacked the journalists in an organised way and severely beat them up in the presence of police. In this backdrop, the police and the government of Punjab should have played a neutral role, but media person were implicated in a concocted criminal case of serious offence for pressuring and forcing them to not to pursue their case against doctors.

        The PFUJ said this shameful act of the Punjab Police and the government have expose their true faces and proved that media persons were targetted under a calculated move to  defame and pressure so that they remain away from reporting events of public importance.The PFUJ also expressed surprise that the higher judiciary did not take notice of this serious incident of highhandedness with media persons by doctors and police.

       The PFUJ cautioned that if case registered against media persons at Police Station Faisal Town was not immediately withdrawn and if culprits involved in torturing journalists at Jinnah Hospital were not arrested, the PFUJ and its affiliated unions would be constrained to resort to countrywide series of protests. The PFUJ would move an appeal at the globe level for urging the international media organizations, human rights activists, UNO to ensure safety of media persons.

Shamsul Islam Naz
Secretary General 
PAKISTAN FEDERAL UNION OF JOURNALISTS
12-Nazimuddin Road, F-6/1
Islamabad, Pakistan
Phone Office +92(0)51 2870220-1
Facsimile +92(0)51 2870223
Cellular +92(0)300 8665523
http://www.shamsulislamnaz.com
http://www.pfuj.pk