(WAN/IFEX) – In a 7 July 2001 letter to Pakistani chief executive, General Pervez Musharraf, WAN expressed concern over the death sentence passed on newspaper owner Rehmat Shah Afridi. According to reports, Afridi, owner of the English-language daily “Frontier Post” and the Urdu-language daily “Maidan”, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani Anti-Narcotics Court on […]
(WAN/IFEX) – In a 7 July 2001 letter to Pakistani chief executive, General Pervez Musharraf, WAN expressed concern over the death sentence passed on newspaper owner Rehmat Shah Afridi.
According to reports, Afridi, owner of the English-language daily “Frontier Post” and the Urdu-language daily “Maidan”, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani Anti-Narcotics Court on 27 June. On 2 April 1999, Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) personnel arrested Afridi and allegedly found twenty-one kilogrammes of hashish in his car. Afridi has consistently pleaded not guilty and claims that he is the victim of an ANF plot. Shortly before his arrest, Afridi published two articles accusing ANF officers of involvement in drug smuggling.
The president of the Pakistan Jurists Association has called the verdict “biased” and a “conspiracy against the newspaper,” while the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has also condemned the sentence.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the chief executive:
– asking him to ensure that a thorough investigation of Afridi’s conviction and sentencing is carried out
Appeals To
His Excellency General Pervez Musharraf
Chief Executive, Islamic Republic of Pakistan
General Headquarters, Pakistan Army
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
c/o Permanent Representative to the UN
E-mail: pakistan@un.int
Please copy appeals to WAN.
