Newsmen boycott NA proceedings | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Newsmen boycott NA proceedings

ISLAMABAD, June 18 2006: Journalists and opposition party members here on June 17 boycotted the proceedings of the National Assembly to condemn the killing of a tribal journalist and demanded the government to constitute a judicial commission under a judge of the Supreme Court and a fact-finding committee of parliamentarians before Monday to investigate the matter.

Prior to staging a protest in front of the Parliament House along with members of opposition parties, including the MMA, PML-N and PPP, journalists had gagged their mouths with black ribbons in the press gallery of the National Assembly and boycotted the session immediately after it started. The journalists also observed a protest in front of the nearby Supreme Court building as the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists announced countrywide strikes from Monday to condemn the killing of the journalist.

PPI ADDS: Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) on June 17 strongly condemned the gruesome murder of missing journalist Hayatullah Khan in the North Waziristan tribal area and announced to observe a three-day protest, boycott of Sindh Assembly proceedings on Monday and taking out a protest rally on the same day.

A joint statement by the president, general-secretary and executive council members of KUJ said the journalist community had expressed fear that Hayatullah could be killed as his whereabouts were not known but the government took no interest in his recovery. They announced to observe three-day protest against his and KTN cameraman Munir Sanghi’s murder.
Source: Dawn
Date:6/18/2006