French journalists sent to Peshawar jail
PESHAWAR: Two French journalists detained on Friday were sent to the Peshawar Central Prison on judicial remand after a court rejected their bail on Saturday.
SSP Operations Karim Khan confirmed to The News that the two French media persons, Francois Lino Candona of TF-1 TV and Christopher Phillipes Beneyre, had been imprisoned.
They were arrested by the Special Branch police soon after they reportedly interviewed a senior official of the bomb disposal unit (BDU). Police said they were arrested while filming in the cantonment area. Another reason for their arrest was their entry to the city without valid documents. One of the detained mediapersons had got Pakistani visa from New Delhi and had landed in Pakistan a few days backs, said a source.
There are reports that Francois and Christopher had not informed the authorities about their visit to Peshawar. “Every foreigner needs to register their name with the Special Branch so that they could be provided security in the volatile city,” said a police official.
Counsels from the French embassy as well as local lawyers appeared before the magistrate on special duty when they were produced in the court. They requested bail for the two mediamen.
Earlier, senior police officials met the foreign journalists in West Cantonment police station.There were unconfirmed reports that one of the detained French nationals was the one who had visited Matani a couple of months back to interview the leader of the Qaumi Lashkar. Police had boarded the foreigner in a bus and sent him to Islamabad. SSP expressed ignorance from the report, saying they were checking the information.
Source: The News
Date:5/30/2010
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