President and Prime Minister condemn attack on TV office;
ISLAMABAD (March 17 2007): President General Pervez Musharraf on Friday strongly condemned the police action against the Geo TV and apologised over the sad incident. In a telephone call to the Geo TV, aired live, the President condemned the incident in the strongest terms.
“In my view this is a sabotage of whatever we stand for and whatever we are doing,” he said. The President said; “I want to tell the nation that our strength is in the reforms we have undertaken – the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of media and supremacy of human rights – that is our mandate and this is a violation of it and I strongly condemn it.”
The President said he would be “personally involved” into the matter and assured that immediate action be taken against all those involved in this incident. “The culprits must be identified and punished immediately,” the President said. He said the incident should not have taken place however assured that the compensation for the damages be paid immediately.
The President earlier in a statement took serious notice of the police action against the Geo television and termed it a deplorable act while ordering an immediate inquiry. He described it as highly objectionable act and expressed sympathy with those affected. He assured that those found involved would be taken to task.
The President said the unprecedented freedom of press, media and expression were an achievement and hallmark of the present government. President Musharraf said he upholds and strongly believes in the freedom of press.
PRIME MINISTER ORDERS ENQUIRY Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Friday strongly condemned the raid of police at Geo’s office here and ordered judicial enquiry into the matter.
The Prime Minister said this while talking to federal ministers and parliamentarians who called on him at the PM’s House after the incident. The Prime Minister ordered immediate judicial inquiry into the incident and said that all the policemen involved in the incident will be suspended from service. He also said that government would make adequate compensation to the channel to make up for the loss to the property.
Those who attended the meeting included Federal Ministers Khurshid Kasuri, Mohammad Ali Durrani, Saleem Saifullah Khan, Wasi Zafar, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Amanullah Khan Jadoon, Zahid Hamid, Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Shahid Akram Bhinder, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Leader of the House in Senate Wasim Sajjad and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Commander Khalilur Rahman (Retd).
Source: Business Recorder
Date:3/17/2007
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