Khawar Rizvi released on bail
QUETTA: Khawar Mehdi Rizvi, a Pakistani reporter who was arrested after being accused of helping French journalists make a “fake film” about the Taliban, was released on bail on March 29, prison officials said. An anti-terrorism court in Quetta granted Khawar Mehdi Rizvi bail of Rs 200,000, they said.
Intelligence authorities arrested Rizvi in December and kept him in custody for five weeks. He was handed to the police on January 24 and charged with anti-state activity. French journalist Marc Epstein and photographer Jean-Paul Guilloteau, of L’Express magazine, were arrested with him on December 16 for violating their visas by travelling to Quetta, near Afghanistan, without permission.
The Frenchmen were freed and flew home on January 13 after paying a fine. Police said Rizvi, in collaboration with two Pakistanis, had arranged a fake video on Taliban training in Pakistan and tried to “defame” the country. The court declared five other co-accused in the case as absconders.
Source: The News
Date:3/30/2004
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