Attack on press club
Journalists protest dropping of terror charge on minister
PESHAWAR, July 01 2006: Journalists blocked a busy road in Peshawar on Saturday to protest against the withdrawal of the section under the Anti-Terrorism Act in the case against Federal Minister for Political Affairs Amir Muqaam and activists of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) for attacking the Peshawar Press Club building on June 29. “We are protesting against the withdrawal of Section 7 of the ATA (Anti-Terrorism Act) charge against the minister, Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) Nighat Orakzai and others,” Peshawar Press Club Chairman Syed Bukhar Shah told Daily Times as dozens of journalists blocked Cantt Road in front of the PPC building, chanted slogans against the government and accused it of pressuring police to protect Muqam.
The journalists blocked the road for two hours and burned tyres. Muqaam, Nighat Orakzai and eight others had been booked under Section 7 of the Anti Terrorism Act, among other charges, which had rendered the accused ineligible for bail. However, the charge under the Anti-Terrorism Act was later withdrawn. “We took the accused to the ATC Judge Shah Jee Rehman but he refused to take up their case, saying that the court had closed for the day.
Since we could not detain the accused for more than 24 hours without court production, we presented them before a judicial magistrate and deleted the ATA charge against them,” East Cantonment Police Station House Officer Banaras Khan told Daily Times. However, Judge Rehman denied that the police had brought the accused to his court.
Source: Daily Times
Date:7/1/2006
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