(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 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 unidentified
callers threatened her life and ordered her to stop what she was doing or
her house would be blown up.
She said that although she had received similar threats in recent months,
the latest warnings are of a more ominous nature due to the current climate
of hostility between the government and the Jang Group of newspapers. “The
News” of Islamabad is a part of the Jang Group. Lodhi said that she had
written the Interior Minister to place the threats she received on the
record and to remind the government of its duty to protect her safety. She
reiterated her commitment to continue to uphold press freedom and the rights
of journalists to express themselves freely, as guaranteed by Pakistan’s law
and constitution. She added that such threats would not deter her from
fulfilling her duties.