(RSF/IFEX) – In a 24 August 1999 letter to the home secretary of Sindh, RSF expressed its great concern over three attacks against journalists which occurred in the province in the previous week. Some local reporters accused the police of being behind these incidents. RSF asked the home secretary “to ensure that the persons responsible […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a 24 August 1999 letter to the home secretary of Sindh, RSF
expressed its great concern over three attacks against journalists which
occurred in the province in the previous week. Some local reporters accused
the police of being behind these incidents. RSF asked the home secretary “to
ensure that the persons responsible for these acts are quickly arrested and
prosecuted.” The organisation further stated that “if they are policemen or
civil servants, the autorities of Sindh have to ensure that they are
severely punished.” RSF reminded the home secretary that “it is the duty of
journalists to report on corruption or criminal gangs and that they have to
be protected if they are prevented from working freely by violent groups or
persons.”
According to RSF’s sources, in the previous week, three reporters were
attacked in separate incidents in Sindh province. Unidentified armed men
snatched the camera of the “Ibrat” daily photographer, Muhammad Ali
Jagirani, near the Sukkur civil hospital (north of the province). Local
journalists said that the journalist was on duty when he was attacked and
that police may be behind the incident. On 17 August, Ghulam Hussain
Hajjano, a reporter with the “Ibrat” daily, was mistreated by two uniformed
and one plainclothes policemen, suffering an injury to his nose. The
journalist was transferred to the civil hospital in Hyderabad. The policemen
had told him that the head of the local police wanted to see him but when
the journalist refused to follow them, they began to beat him. According to
an anonymous source, “Ghulam Hajjano carries a tag of being an anti-police
reporter.”
In a more serious incident, on 18 August, Shabir Baidar Buttho, Sukkur
bureau chief of the “Kawish” daily, was shot at by three unidentified men in
his office. The journalist was unhurt. Local police have already arrested
one suspect and launched an investigation. Shabir Baidar Buttho is well
known in the region for exposing officials’ corruption and denouncing local
landlords’ unlawful activities.
