ISLAMABAD, Nov 4 : Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), has rejected the promulgation of “mini-Martial Law,” in the country in the cover of emergency, strongly condemned late night police raids on private tv news channels, two FM radios following the virtual ban on news channels for the last two days and decided to resist these action with the cooperation of other media organisations including International media watchdogs, it said in a Press Release.

In the last 24-hours all the private news channels were blocked, police raided the offices of FM-99, in Islamabad, FM-103, in Karachi and Aaj, tv in Islamabad and the senior police official present outside Aaj tv, said they have similar orders for other news channels as well. There are also unconfirmed reports about possible action against journalists, anchors, reports collected by PFUJ revealed.
On Sunday, morning a paramilitary officials stopped the ARY news teams in Quetta, when they were taking visuals, snatched the camera, removed film and after warning handed over the camera back. “I can even put you behind bar,” an official present at Faizan chowk, told an ARY reporter.

” It is nothing but martial law, media came under worst kind of attack through black laws on print and electronic media and we will never accept it and will resist like we did in the past. We expressed complete solidarity with the channels and radios which came under direct attack and assured our complete cooperation,” it said in a statement.
PFUJ has called an emergency meeting on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in which President and General Secretaries of the affiliated Unions will attend while the Ujs have already held their meetings in different parts of the country.
The meeting will consider joint action along with other media bodies and may also give call for “Global Action Day,” during which media bodies around the world will protest against media curbs in Pakistan.

All the International media watchdogs including International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), have extended their support to PFUJ.
PFUJ said the ordinance-2007, to amend Press, Newspapers, News Agencies, and Books Registration Ordinance, 2002 and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, PEMRA, 2002 added to already existing “black laws,” against media and its a direct attack on freedom of expression and freedom of the Press.

It rejected General Pervez Musharraf’s remarks against the media during his address to the nation and said “negativism” was on the part of the government, which tried to corrupt the media and tried to misguide the people.
Government in the last five years have taken action against different tv channels and FM radio, issued show-cause notices, raided their offices, confiscated their equipments on number of occasions. Some 24 Journalists had been killed, ten were kidnapped by intelligence agencies, over 100 cases of attack on media were reported, their families were target ted. Journalists were booked in cases under Official Secret Act and treason, but even these cases were never tried. Even in the cases where government was not directly involved police never pursued their cases and as a result no culprits were arrested in any of these cases.

PFUJ has appealed to all the media organisations including Pakistan Broadcasters Association, PBA, Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors, CPNE and All Pakistan Newspapers Society, APNS to fight against attack on freedom of expressions with full force.

Mazhar Abbas,
Secretary General, PFUJ
4.11.07

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