(PPF/IFEX) – On 28 May 2003, journalists in the city of Lahore boycotted a session of the Punjab Assembly in response to police preventing coverage of a protest by opposition assembly members earlier in the day. The journalists announced that they would end the boycott only after an apology by Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and […]
(PPF/IFEX) – On 28 May 2003, journalists in the city of Lahore boycotted a session of the Punjab Assembly in response to police preventing coverage of a protest by opposition assembly members earlier in the day. The journalists announced that they would end the boycott only after an apology by Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and action against the police officers who were responsible.
Later, provincial ministers Chaudhry Iqbal and Raja Basharat expressed regret over the incident and promised action against the police officers responsible for it. They said the government held journalists in high esteem and was not involved in the incident.
District Police Officer (DPO) Khwaja Khalid Farooq, who was sitting beside the ministers in the cafeteria and had offered an unconditional apology, left after journalists objected to his presence.
A joint meeting of the Lahore Press Club, Punjab Union of Journalists (Barna and Dastoori) and the Press Gallery Committee announced that a demonstration would be held in front of the assembly on 29 May.
