The Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Monday censured incidents of alleged police misconduct, manhandling, threats and obstruction of media coverage involving journalists during the court appearance of Anmol, alias Pinky, warning that any attempt to suppress press freedom would not be tolerated.
A statement quoted KPC President Fazil Jamili, Secretary Aslam Khan and members of its governing body as saying that journalists routinely perform their professional duties by covering courts, police stations and other public institutions, but the treatment meted out to media personnel during Pinky’s appearance is deeply regrettable, unlawful and condemnable.
They claimed that police personnel pushed journalists, obstructed them from carrying out coverage and threatened them with serious consequences. They also claimed that journalists were told “if this news gets out, we will not spare you”, and “this is not your press club; this is our place and we can do whatever we want”.
The KPC office-bearers described such remarks as a blatant abuse of authority and a direct attack on freedom of expression.
They stressed that the duty of police is to uphold the law and protect citizens’ rights, not to harass journalists or prevent them from performing their professional responsibilities.
The KPC leadership also expressed concern over the alleged threats by Inspector Sajida Nazir to register cases against journalists. They warned that if media representatives are denied their constitutional and legal right to report freely, the KPC, journalist organisations and the wider media community reserves the right to launch strong protests.
The KPC called upon the Sindh and Karachi police chiefs as well as other senior authorities to take immediate notice of the incident, conduct a transparent inquiry against the officials involved in threatening journalists and obstructing media coverage, and initiate strict departmental action against those responsible.
The KPC office-bearers reaffirmed that there would be no compromise on the dignity, safety and freedom of journalists, and pledged to continue voicing their concerns at every forum for the protection of media rights.
