{"id":20441,"date":"2023-05-14T19:26:46","date_gmt":"2023-05-14T19:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/?p=20441"},"modified":"2023-05-14T19:31:17","modified_gmt":"2023-05-14T19:31:17","slug":"pakistan-journalists-attacked-radio-station-torched-reporting-muzzled-internet-blocked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/pakistan-journalists-attacked-radio-station-torched-reporting-muzzled-internet-blocked\/","title":{"rendered":"PAKISTAN – Journalists attacked, Radio station torched, Reporting muzzled, Internet blocked"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"Islamabad: 11 May 2023 – Many journalists and media outlets have been the targets of violence in the ongoing wave of protests in Pakistan in reaction to former Prime Minister Imran Khan\u2019s arrest. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the organisers of these protests, as well as the civilian and military authorities, to allow journalists to work freely and in a spirit of respect for pluralism.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
\u201cDuring the current turmoil in Pakistan, it is absolutely crucial that journalists should be able to work without constraint in order to provide their fellow citizens and the world with reliable, freely-reported and independent news coverage. We call on the leaders of Imran Khan’s party to give clear instructions to their rank and file to respect press freedom. At the same time, we urge Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif\u2019s civilian government and Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir to respect diversity of opinions and to allow the media cover these historic events.”<\/em><\/h5>\n
Daniel Bastard<\/strong>
\nHead of RSF\u2019s Asia-Pacific desk\"\"<\/h5>\n
Wrecked studios, burned microphones, tape recordings gone up in smoke\u2026 This was the provisional toll of a violent attack\u00a0yesterday (10 May)\u00a0on\u00a0Radio Pakistan, the state-owned radio station in Peshawar, the capital of the northern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.<\/strong><\/em><\/h5>\n
About 200 demonstrators stormed the entrance to the building housing the radio station in the morning. The station\u2019s managing director,\u00a0Ijaz Khan<\/strong>, described in a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0how they quickly ransacked the reception area and then smashed furniture in several studios.<\/h5>\n
Recordings reduced to ashes<\/strong><\/h5>\n
At around noon, after being joined by several hundred more protesters, the mob launched a new assault, this time setting fire to the building, destroying computer equipment, reducing the station\u2019s historical recordings to ashes, and setting fire to three vehicles parked in the compound. One of the station\u2019s employees had to be hospitalised with serious burns.<\/h5>\n
The day before, reporters trying to cover the protests in Peshawar were attacked by protesters. The satellite transmission vehicles of\u00a0Dawn News TV<\/em>,\u00a0Aaj News<\/em>,\u00a0Khyber News<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Express News<\/em>\u00a0were subjected to rock throwing and baton attacks.<\/h5>\n
The\u00a0Dawn News TV<\/em>\u00a0truck was badly damaged and one of its occupants, journalist\u00a0Arif Hayat<\/strong>, was injured by flying glass.\u00a0Express News<\/em>\u00a0reporter\u00a0Vishal Khan<\/strong>\u00a0was among those attacked by protesters.\"\"<\/h5>\n
Internet blocked<\/strong><\/h5>\n
These protests took place one day after the arrest of Imran Khan, Pakistan\u2019s prime minister from 2018 to 2022, on 9 May. The supporters of his party, called Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (\u201cPakistan Movement for Justice\u201d \u2013 PTI) immediately took to the streets in the country\u2019s biggest cities on 9 May to give vent to their anger and then, yesterday (10 May), began violently targeting the symbols of civilian and military authority.<\/h5>\n
RSF condemned<\/a>\u00a0the blocking of many social media and the drastic slowdown of broadband services that was ordered\u00a0yesterday\u00a0by Pakistan\u2019s telecoms regulator, which is a government offshoot.<\/h5>\n
Forbidden access<\/strong><\/h5>\n
The police have meanwhile arrested at least two journalists with media outlets regarded as close to Imran Khan\u2019s PTI party.\u00a0Bol News<\/em>\u00a0TV anchor\u00a0Imran Riaz Khan<\/strong>\u00a0was\u00a0arrested<\/a>\u00a0this morning\u00a0at Sialkot airport, in eastern Pakistan, for \u201cinciting violence.\u201d<\/h5>\n
Almost at the same time,\u00a0Samaa TV<\/em>\u00a0anchor\u00a0Aftab Iqbal<\/strong>\u00a0was\u00a0arrested\u00a0at his home in Lahore, according to reports that were\u00a0confirmed<\/a>\u00a0a few hours later by his daughter in a tweet.<\/h5>\n
Although the Supreme Court ruled\u00a0late this afternoon\u00a0that Imran Khan\u2019s arrest was \u201cinvalid,\u201d there seems to have been no let-up in the anger on the streets. Soldiers have been deployed on major thoroughfares in the capital, Islamabad, and in several other major cities, blocking access to journalists.<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n
<\/h5>\n

What an Arrest-What an Exoneration \/ All are Powerful – No one is Responsible \/ Everyone Exposed \/ Dirty is Harry only? Or Dirty is Politics Actually? -by- Tazeen Akhtar \/ Offline<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n