End to ‘siege’ of newspaper offices demanded
ISLAMABAD, FEBRUARY 5 (AFP): The editor of a national English daily on Friday urged the government to “see reason” and lift a nationwide “siege” of its offices’
“We are under siege,” Maleeha Lodhi, editor of The News, Islamabad, told journalists representing foreign media at the newspaper’s office in Rawalpindi, as dozens of employees sat on the pavement outside in a hunger strike.
At least four people were injured on Thursday in a scuffle in Karachi between journalists of daily Jang and security guards over the non release of newsprint imported by the group.
“It is total defiance of a Supreme Court order for the release of the newsprint,” said Ms Lodhi, a former ambassador to the United States.
“But here we have to make human shields in a bid to get newsprint inside,” she said, adding that uniformed and plainclothes policemen were “besieging” the building to try to stop everything coming in”, she said.
Ms Lodhi said the group went public last week as the government “left us with no option and stepped up intimidation to force us into toeing the government line and sacking certain journalists.”
She blamed the government for launching an assault on the newspaper group in a bid to tame the press after having brought other institutions “to heel”.
To resolve the issue, the government should withdraw all “mala fide” actions and let the law take its course if the group owed massive taxes as the authorities claimed, she said.-
Source: Dawn
Date:2/6/1999
” 
” 
” 
” 
