10 ATTACKS ON PAKISTANI MEDIA IN JULY

ISLAMABAD : Ten separate incidents of attack on media in Pakistan were reported in national newspapers during the month of July 2006, according to a monthly report on the state of media violations in the country released in Islamabad on August 1.

Statistics compiled from Pakistani published media reports by Intermedia, a locally registered media development NGO, show that in these 10 incidents, eight journalists were the victims of harassment and torture.

The statistics show that June (13 incidents) and March (11 incidents), July was the most difficult month for the media in 2006.

Seven of the attacks were against journalists and three on media property, taking the total number of such incidents in the country during this year so far to 58, as reported by an international media NGO, Internews, last week.

Three journalists were detained illegally during July whereas three were tortured or injured and two received death threats. Geographically, Sindh province proved to be the most dangerous for the media in July with four attacks recorded followed by Punjab with three and tribal areas (one).

On July 3, police in Dadu registered a case against local journalist Ghulam Rasool, reportedly on the behest of a ruling party leader and arrested him.

On July 14, reporter Adeel Khan and cameraman Qasim Khan of ARY One television network were thrashed in Karachi by outraged mourners protesting the assassination of Tehrik-e-Jafria leader Hasan Turabi. The same day in Dera Ghazi Khan, police registered a case against local journalist Akhtar Gujar for writing crime dairies that allegedly brought them into disrepute.

On July 15, supporters of Turabi in Karachi sprayed bullets on the van of Geo television channel. The same day in Quetta , a big contingent of police cordoned the Quetta Press Club building for over 10 hours. No reason was given.

On July 20, senior reporter Mustahsan Nadeem in Lahore was badly beaten up by Imtinan Shahid the editor of Urdu daily Khabrain and his gunmen for refusing to influence the judiciary in a criminal case, as reported by BBC Urdu Online.

On July 21, Mehboob Shah Afridi, a local journalist in Khyber Agency of the tribal areas received death threats on telephone from activists of a religious group led by cleric Maulana Shakir for reporting on their activities.

On July 22, in Ghotki, Nadeem Ahmed, reporter for Sindhi daily Koshish was arrested for alleged kidnapping in a case dating back eight years. This was a day after he was shot and injured by unknown persons.

On July 31, unidentified persons torched copies of various newspapers in Gojra town of Punjab province and prevented their distribution.