Protest against harassment of journalist
PESHAWAR- Paris-based Reporters sans Frontiers protested against the harassment of Hayatullah Khan, Correspondent of the national Daily Ausaf in the Tribal Areas (North-West of the country).
In a letter addressed to the NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, RSF asked to stop physical threats and to drop out charges filed against the journalist as the Organization considers that Hayatullah Khan has exercised his right to inform.
“Such an attitude from a representative of the Federal state is not acceptable and we wish to remind you that President Pervez Musharraf personally undertook to respect freedom of press throughout the country”, said Robert Menard RSF General Secretary.
On August 5, 2001 Hayatullah Khan disclosed to RSF that he received new threats and was forced to stay into hiding. He is the correspondent of Urdu Daily Ausaf in Mir Ali. The divisional headquarters of North Waziristan Agency that is a part of the Tribal Areas under Federal control. Since last June, the local authorities have been harassing the journalist, threatened with arrest, the journalist left Mir Ali.
Chased by the guards of Muhammad Mushtaq Jadoon, he had to flee the town of Bannu to find refuge in Peshawar where he is in hiding, Hayatullah Khan told RSF.
The local authorities accused the Ausaf correspondent for writhing articles about the weakness of the North Waziristan administration and the growing influence of the Taliban. On the directives of Mushtaq Jadoon, men ransacked the journalistÂ’s house and arrested one of his relatives to force the journalist to surrender.
Source: The Nation
Date:8/11/2001
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