(PPF/IFEX) – Police in the city of Bahawalpur in the Punjab province arrested Ahmed Nawaz Abbasi, correspondent for the Urdu daily “Nawa-i-Waqt”, early on the morning of Thursday 4 May 2001. He was arrested for providing the French news agency Agence France Press (AFP) a photograph of the corpse of a man who had died […]
(PPF/IFEX) – Police in the city of Bahawalpur in the Punjab province arrested Ahmed Nawaz Abbasi, correspondent for the Urdu daily “Nawa-i-Waqt”, early on the morning of Thursday 4 May 2001. He was arrested for providing the French news agency Agence France Press (AFP) a photograph of the corpse of a man who had died due to the drought in the Cholistan desert. The officials alleged that the photographer had provided an old photograph to AFP. The photograph was published prominently in almost all the leading national newspapers.
Police officials raided Abbasi’s house on Wednesday time and again, but did not find him there. They harassed his elderly mother and later raided his friend’s house where they arrested him.
The action was taken following a complaint by the Cholistan Development authority.
For further information, contact Owais Aslam Ali at PPF, Press Centre, Shahrah Kamal Ataturk, Karachi, Pakistan, tel: +92 21 263 1123, fax: +92 21 263 7754, e-mail: [email protected], Internet: http://www.oneworld.org/ppf