(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is very concerned by the detention of Najam Sethi. According to RSF’s information, on 12 May 1999, the Lahore High Court rejected a plea to present Najam Sethi, editor-in-chief of the weekly “Friday Times”, because he was being held by military intelligence. On 7 May, Sethi was kidnapped by “members of the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is very concerned by the detention of Najam Sethi.
According to RSF’s information, on 12 May 1999, the Lahore High Court
rejected a plea to present Najam Sethi, editor-in-chief of the weekly
“Friday Times”, because he was being held by military intelligence. On 7
May, Sethi was kidnapped by “members of the Punjab police”, his wife Jugnoo
Mohsin stated. She told the daily “The News” that she had been held
illegally as some twenty men took her husband away from their house.
**Updates IFEX alerts of 10 May, 6 May and 5 May 1999**
According to official sources, Sethi was arrested because he made
declarations against Pakistan while visiting India. He is accused of having
links with “hostile intelligence agencies”. Najam Sethi had received threats
from Pakistani officials after giving an interview to a BBC television crew
working on a documentary about corruption scandals in the Pakistani
government.
Press investigations into government-level corruption have led the police to
harass and arrest several other journalists. M.A.K. Lodhi, investigations
bureau chief on the daily “The News”, was kidnapped on 2 May by plainclothes
police. He was released two days later. Lodhi had also helped the BBC crew.
Police accused him of “destabilising the country.” On 5 May, Ejaz Haider, an
editor with the same weekly, received an anonymous letter advising him to
drape the windows of his car with flak-jackets. The journalist believes this
intimidation is linked to his collaboration with Sethi. The same day, the
car of Imtiaz Alam, a journalist with “The News”, was burned in front of his
house by two or three men.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the prime minister:
been allowed to meet his family, a lawyer or a doctor
are respected and that the Pakistani authorities halts its campaign of
harassment against journalists investigating corruption among his government
and his family
Appeals To
His Excellency Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
Office of the Prime Minister
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: +92 51 920 5532
E-mail: primeminister@pak.gov.pk
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
