Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 142
|
Police thrashed media crew and damaged several vans of media houses during the coverage of protests in Islamabad.
By Rafaqat Gondal (Pakistan)
Following intense nightlong crackdown on PTI and PAT protesters, the police fell vehemently on media personnel this morning.
Samaa reporter and two cameramen were also injured as riot police tortured media workers, including those associated with ARY News, News One, AbbTakk News, Dunya TV, Dawan News and Jaag TV.
Enraged over media showing true picture of the showdown, police pulled Samaa cameramen and other media persons from DSNG vans and brutally beat them up with batons.
Police also badly smashed the cameras, DSNGs of several channels and vehicles of journalists.
The police brutality invited condemnation from journalist organizations, seeking action against IG Islamabad.
Pakistan Broadcasters Association, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalist (PFUJ), Journalist Protection Council of Pakistan, Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) and National Press Club also condemned the police torture on media persons.
Former president Pervez Musharraf, Altaf Hussain, Imran Khan, Dr. Tahirul Qadri, also condemned the torture.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid took notice of police torture and directed concerned officials to probe into the matter.
As police tortured media persons PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique stepped in to stop police violence.
TV footages showed Saad Rafique coming out of his vehicle and pushed policemen busy in vandalizing media vans. He, meanwhile, heard complains of reporters and cameramen covering the protest.
Talking to media, the federal minister said that this is a criminal mindset that is undermining the government’s case. - SAMAA |
|
