Pakistan Press Foundation

(PPF/IFEX) – A settlement has come out of the ongoing talks between the government and the Jang Group of newspapers after nearly two months of hostility. The government has released the newsprint, unfrozen the frozen bank accounts and removed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) personnel from the Group’s offices. ** Updates IFEX alerts of 8 […]

(PPF/IFEX) – On 4 February 1999, Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered the government to release 200 of the 1,093 reels of impounded newsprint to the Jang Group of newspapers. **Updates IFEX alerts of 8 February, 5 February, 3 February, 2 February, 1 February and 8 January 1999, 16 December and 15 December 1998** After the contempt […]

(PPF/IFEX) – On 7 February 1999, in a meeting which lasted nearly five hours, the government promised to restore the Jang Group’s newsprint quota and also remove police from outside the offices of the “Jang” and “The News” dailies. The Jang Group’s chief executive of newspapers, Mir Shakil ur Rehman, Punjab Chief Shabaz Sharif, Information […]

(PPF/IFEX) – Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials and the police manhandled staff of the local Urdu daily “Ausaf” of Islamabad on 3 February 1999. The editor of “Ausaf”, Hamid Mir, said that they were being punished for helping the Jang Group, as the paper decided to supply four reels of newsprint to the Jang Group, […]

(PPF/IFEX) – On 28 January 1999, police in Sindh province registered cases of “sedition” against “Jang”, “Amn”, and “Parcham” (local Urdu dailies), for publishing an advertisement of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a political party in the province. The papers were charged with sedition aimed at inciting people against the state. Cases have been registered […]

(PPF/IFEX) – On 1 February 1999, a scuffle between law enforcement agencies and journalists protesting government action against the Jang Group resulted in injuries to three journalists. Demonstrators were angered by news that a truckload of newsprint, along with the truck’s driver and two passengers, were taken to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). On reaching […]

(PPF/IFEX) – On 31 January 1999, Maleeha Lodhi, the editor of “The News” of Islamabad, informed Interior Minister Chaudary Shujat Hussain in a letter of death threats she had received over the telephone. Lodhi said that in the past twenty four hours, she had received several threatening and abusive telephone calls at her residence. The […]

(PPF/IFEX) – On 30 January 1999, three unidentified armed men ransacked the offices of the English language daily “Khyber Mail International”, based in Peshawar (in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province). The attackers severely beat messenger Mohammad Javed and ransacked the office. Javed told police that the intruders had a Kalashnikov rifle and a pistol. The […]