(PPF/IFEX) – Nawaz Zulfiqar Memon, a young journalist, has died in Thatta after being severely tortured by law enforcement agencies. Memon, 29, a district reporter for “The Daily Nation” in Thatta (100 kilometres from Karachi), had gone to Islamabad in a bid to seek justice from Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf when he was taken […]
(PPF/IFEX) – Nawaz Zulfiqar Memon, a young journalist, has died in Thatta after being severely tortured by law enforcement agencies.
Memon, 29, a district reporter for “The Daily Nation” in Thatta (100 kilometres from Karachi), had gone to Islamabad in a bid to seek justice from Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf when he was taken into custody by law enforcement agencies. The journalist was subjected to severe torture, was rendered unconscious for three days, and died in Thatta on 16 December 1999.
On 26 November, the journalist left his house for Friday prayers. On his way to the mosque he saw a group of criminals blocking a school van. Hurling abuses, the hooligans attacked the driver. Memon asked them to let the driver go, along with the van carrying the children and female teachers. They beat him and fled the scene. One of the attackers was identified.
Memom met with the local police chief but no official was willing to register a First Information Report (FIR.) He travelled to Islamabad on Friday 3 December in a bid to meet Genaral Pervez Musharraf to seek justice.
At Islamabad Airport, Memom asked a man for the chief executive’s office address. He was subsequently detained by law enforcement officers, and taken to the airport police station where he was severely tortured for three days. On receiving information of his son’s circumstances, the journalist’s father, Hasan Ali Memon, went to Islamabad, obtained his son’s release and brought him back to Thatta where he remained unconscious for three days and later died.
The president of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), Arif Nizami, has condemned the killing of Memon. He urged the authorities to conduct an inquiry into the incident, asserting that the persons involved must not be allowed to go unpunished. He added that this was not the first incident of its kind.
The CPNE president said that in order to create a better rapport between the press and the government, it is imperative that immediate remedial measures be taken to stop this type of brutality.
The Rawalpindi Police have denied the allegation that Memom was tortured while in police custody at the airport police station. However, the senior superintendent of police has ordered an inquiry into the matter.
