Cops assaulted media men outside PA
JOURNALISTS staged a boycott of the Punjab Assembly proceedings on Wednesday after a private television channel’s reporter and cameraman were tortured by cops outside the assembly premises.
Protesting against the highhandedness of the police, journalists staged a sit-in outside the Punjab Assembly and chanted slogans.
The Speaker Rana Mashood sent a committee comprising provincial ministers Farooq Yousaf Ghurki and other ministers to negotiate with the journalists for their return to the press gallery.
The journalist, however, demanded senior minister Raja Riaz’s presence. Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam members joined the protest for a short while.
Raja Riaz, upon arrival, assured that the policemen involved in the incident would be immediately suspended while cases will also be registered against them.
He asked the journalists to end the protest while guaranteeing that no such incident would take place in the future and special Punjab Assembly staff would be deputed outside the assembly premises to ensure that journalists were not treated harshly by the police.
Source: The News
Date:6/26/2008
” 
” 
” 
” 
