From: hrcoord@igc.apc.org (Human Rights Coordinator)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.pakistan
Subject: PAKISTAN: SEDITION CHARGE DROPPED A
Date: 4 Oct 92 16:40:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1474400006:000:3889
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Oct  4 09:40:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: PAKISTAN: SEDITION CHARGE DROPPED A

/* Written 12:06 am  Oct  4, 1992 by newsdesk in
cdp:ips.englibrary */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all
rights reserved.  Permission to re- print within 7 days of
original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: PAKISTAN: SEDITION CHARGE DROPPED AFTER NATIONWIDE PRESS
PROTESTS

lahore, oct 1 (ips/beena sarwar) -- the pakistani government has
backed out from a confrontation with the press after journalists
threatened to go on strike if a sedition case against a reporter
and two editors of the country's largest english-language
newspaper was not withdrawn.

interior minister shujaat hussain made the announcement late
wednesday shortly after an appeals court in the pakistani capital
islamabad blocked the trial by a special court.

under section 124-a of pakistan's penal code sedition is
punishable by a prison sentence of between three to 14 years.

the government charged the editor-in-chief of 'the news', mir
shakilur rehman, the editor of the newspaper's islamabad edition,
maleeha lodhi, and a reporter saeed ahmed of sedition for
publishing a poem the authorities described as scurrilous.

on sep. 7, 'the news' published a poem written in urdu by a
retired government servant who accused ruling party politicians of
involvement in a financial scandal that last year wiped out the
savings of thousands of people.

the poet mohammed yusuf, a victim of the 'cooperatives scandal',
had read out the poem at a press conference in islamabad the day
before. the authorities said a line in the poem that appeals to
pakistan's army chief to ''come into the field'' was an invitation
to martial law.

'the news' later published a front-page apology and soon after
suspended the reporter, but this did not stop the government from
filing sedition charges.

the attack provoked spontaneous outbursts of protest countrywide.
human rights activists joined journalists, lawyers and opposition
politicians in pakistan's cities and towns to protest against the
unprecedented attack on the press.

relations between the nawaz sharif government and the press have
been stormy for several months now. the press has been under
attack for criticising the government. several reporters have been
charged with contempt of court or defamation while others have
been physically attacked and beaten.

last year another woman editor, sherry rehman of the monthly
'herald' magazine was charged with defamation by pakistan's
controversial crime investigation agency (cia) for a cover story
that accused the agency of human rights violations.

copies of the magazine were confiscated from news stalls and
bookshops, and small kiosks threatened if they sold the 'herald'.
(more/ips)

pakistan: sedition (2)

but rehman refused to be intimidated. and within days the cia
withdrew the case after more damaging revelations were made about
its activities.

pakistan's print media had this week united again to oppose
attempts to curb its freedom. reporters in islamabad walked out of
the national assembly in protest after the case was referred to
the controversial special court for a speedy trial.

the opposition led by former prime minister benazir bhutto joined
the boycott. even the right-wing islamic parties, jamat-i- islami
and anjuman sipah-i-sahaba, were on the side of the press.

however, prime minister sharif insisted on tuesday that the
charges were justified and not unconstitutional.

observers here say the government's sudden turnaround the next day
was a damage control tactic. a threatened nationwide strike by the
newspaper industry on oct. 3, the day of the first hearing before
the special court, would have embarrassed sharif.

journalists' groups are now campaigning for the reinstatement of
the reporter who was suspended by the management of 'the news'.
(end/ips/hr/bs/an/92)