(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the president, General Pervez Musharraf, RSF questioned the reasons for the sanctions taken against Masood Malik, chief reporter of the daily “Nawa-i-Waqt”. RSF asked the president to guarantee the independence of the press in his country. “Your declarations in favour of press freedom must be reflected in your actions. […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the president, General Pervez Musharraf, RSF questioned the reasons for the sanctions taken against Masood Malik, chief reporter of the daily “Nawa-i-Waqt”. RSF asked the president to guarantee the independence of the press in his country. “Your declarations in favour of press freedom must be reflected in your actions. If it is proven that your government exerts pressure on the private press, it will be necessary to question the real intentions of the regime,” said Robert Ménard, RSF secretary-general.
According to information obtained by RSF, on 20 July 2001, Malik, chief reporter of the right-wing Urdu daily “Nawa-i-Waqt”, was sanctioned by the newspaper’s editors, only a few hours after asking the Pakistani president a question during a press conference. The journalist asked Musharraf, back from the Indo-Pakistani summit in Agra (India), if it would not have been easier for a democratically elected head of state to obtain an agreement with the Indian president. Musharraf asked the journalist if “he was joking.” A few hours later, Malik learned that he was removed from the daily’s investigation desk. According to the private newspaper “Dawn”, this sanction could be due to pressure from the authorities, notably the Press Information Department in charge of regulating the Pakistani press. The department denied putting pressure on the editors of “Nawa-i-Waqt”.
