PESHAWAR: A journalist was gunned down with his colleague sustaining serious injuries after being targeted by unidentified assailants in Peshawar on Monday.

The victims, identified as Noorul Hasan and Sabir, worked for a private television channel in Nowshera. The duo was travelling on the busy Ring Road when they were intercepted by armed men and fired upon.

Hasan was shifted to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, with Sabir’s condition said to be critical. The body of the deceased has been handing over to his family.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Inspector General Police Salahuddin Khan Mehsud took notice of the incident, and ordered a detailed report into the matter.

Further, Capital City Police Officer Peshawar has been ordered to personally oversee the investigation.

Meanwhile, the K-P Union of Journalists has condemned the murder and demanded to take to task those responsible for the murders.

“The K-P government and security forces have failed in ensuring the protection of the journalists,” read a statement by the journalists’ organisation.

The Express Tribune

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The News: Journalist shot dead in Peshawar

Dawn: Journalist shot dead in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: A Nowshera-based reporter of a private television channel was shot dead in the limits of Pishtakhara police station here on Monday afternoon, police said.

An official told Dawn that Nurul Hasan was shot dead near the Achini Chowk on the Ring Road by unknown motorcyclists. He said Hasan’s other companion identified as Shams was injured in the incident and shifted to hospital.

The official said the motive behind the shooting was not immediately known. KP police chief Salahuddin Khan Mehsud took notice of the killing and directed the city police chief to investigate the case and arrest the killers.

Dawn

Related Story

The News: Journalist shot dead in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: About 12 men armed with guns and sticks attacked office of a local Urdu daily and beat up its crime reporter, causing him minor injuries.

The incident took place at the office of daily Akhbar-i-Shahar when several attackers managed to enter its office and beat up its crime reporter, Kamran Gul.

Mr Gul said there were about a dozen people who were carrying pistols and sticks and they beat him up him black and blue.He said apparently his beating up was related to his police-related reporting.

A city police statement said that the police chief had formed a four-member committee to investigate the attack on the reporter.It said SSP operations Javed Iqbal would head the committee and SP city, DSP and SHO Gulbahar would be its members.

Dawn

Copenhagen: Artists will perform live in Pakistan, Hungary, Senegal, Sweden, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway on Music Freedom Day, 3 March 2016, in defence of artistic freedom.

Starting in Peshawar, one of the most dangerous places in the world for musicians, Music Freedom Day activities will be marked in many countries with concerts, seminars, film screenings, radio programmes and newspaper articles on the subject of freedom of expression for musicians.

Established by Freemuse in 2007, the annual Music Freedom Day is a powerful, united manifestation to support persecuted, prosecuted and imprisoned musicians, many of whose only crime has been to have spoken up against authorities and insist on the right to express themselves through their music.

There are many reasons to focus on the right to freedom of musical expression. As an example, just this week, on 29 February 2016, three Iranian artists were each sentenced to three years in prison, three years of probation and a hefty fine for the production and promotion of underground music.

“Music Freedom Day is dedicated to freedom of musical expression, which is not only a right for musicians to create and perform, but also a right for audiences to attend and enjoy concerts. Iran is violating these rights,” says Ole Reitov, Freemuse Executive Director.

Attacks on music affect entire societies. Musicians and songwriters are being killed, persecuted and imprisoned more than any other artists. In 2015 Freemuse documented 309 cases of censorship and attacks on music and musicians. Audiences who want to experience live music are also more at risk.

“This year, Music Freedom Day especially commemorates the victims of the attack at the Bataclan Club in Paris in November 2015,” Reitov said.

The horrible attacks in Paris are a harsh reminder that groups inspired by religious fundamentalism are willing to make use of the most brutal violence to stop music. The Taleban made a total ban on music in Afghanistan in the 1990’s, the jihadist group MUJAO copied this in Mali in 2012 and several websites promote ideas of music being “haram” or the “tool of the devil”.

In the lead-up to Music Freedom Day, Freemuse has compiled a playlist of banned songs on Spotify and presents a music video for a unique track with a group of today’s most powerful Arab and Iranian revolutionary artists joining together to cover Fela Kuti’s most powerful political song: ‘Zombie’. Several of the artists featured in the video will perform live during Music Freedom Day in Harstad, Norway.

A special audio track featuring Mali’s Songhoy Blues with special guests is available to broadcasters worldwide upon request. Recorded by Mark LeVine, the group has made a new version of one of Fela Kuti’s most famous grooves ‘Shakara’, with new lyrics written by the band riffing off the original’s condemnation of the rich Nigerians who showed off their wealth as so many suffered in grinding poverty. Songhoy Blues’ version of ‘Shakara’ takes Fela’s Afrobeat in a new, Malian-driven direction.

Songhoy Blues is also featured in the documentary ‘They Will Have To Kill Us First – Malian Music in Exile’, which will be released in the USA as part of Music Freedom Day.

Freemuse

PESHAWAR/LANDI KOTAL: A tribal journalist hailing from Khyber Agency sustained injuries when an unidentified person opened firing on him in the limits of Hayatabad police station here late on Tuesday, police said.

The tribal journalist Abdul Azam Shinwari, a resident of Landi Kotal, works for the state news agency APP and Pakistan Television.

A police official told Dawn that the journalist was on his way home in Phase-III Hayatabad when he was stopped by an unidentified person. The person told him that he had come to invite him to a function at journalism department and later asked him to drop him at some distance from his home.

The journalist told police that a car and motorcycle were also following his car. On the way, the attacker told the journalist that his car had a flat tyre and when he came out of check it, he fired at him thrice.

Mr Shinwari was later rushed to Hayatabad Medical Complex. He is said to be in stable condition. The journalist sustained three bullet injuries in legs. The attacker managed to escape.

Saddam Shinwari, the son of injured journalist, told reporters that the attacker asked his father to give him lift till phase-IV area of Hayatabad and after covering some distance opened firing on him.

A senior police official told Dawn that police were investigating the case, however, it would be premature to jump to conclusion. He said that they were looking into the incident in the light of the victim’s statement.

The official said that it was puzzling as to why the attacker shot him in feet when he could easily shoot him in the head. He said that the victim had not told them about having enmity, but they would look into it as well.

Hayatabad police registered a case and started investigation.

The journalists in Khyber Agency held a demonstration at Bab-i-Khyber in Jamrud on Wednesday to protest the attack on their colleague.

Holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans demanding arrest of the attackers and security for their colleagues, the tribal journalists chanted slogans in support of their demands and blocked the main Peshawar-Torkham Highway for a short while.

Speaking on the occasion, senior member of Tribal Union of Journalists Sailab Mehsud said that tribal journalists were not safe in Peshawar even after fleeing their respective tribal regions for insecurity. He demanded of the authorities to arrest the attacker within one week and made the inquiry report public so that the cause of the attack could be known.

Landi Kotal Press Club president Ali Shinwari said that protest demonstrations would be held outside Governor’s House in Peshawar and Parliament House in Islamabad if the government failed to apprehend the culprits within a week.

Dawn

Reporters Without Borders and the Pakistani NGO Freedom Network condemn the four-year jail sentence that an Afghan court has imposed on Pakistani TV reporter Faizullah Khan for illegally crossing into Afghanistan while researching a story on the Taliban.

Announced on 13 July, the sentence was imposed by a military court in the eastern province of Nangarhar that specializes in threats to internal and external security.

The two organizations question the court’s motives for imposing such a heavy sentence. Was it a message to foreign reporters entering Afghanistan without proper travel documents? Or was it a warning to foreign reporters investigating subjects regarded as “sensitive”?

In either case, Reporters Without Borders and Freedom Network call for this utterly disproportionate sentence to be quashed on appeal.

“Such a sentence for a journalist is scandalous and out of all proportion,” said Iqbal Khattak, the executive director of Freedom Network and Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk. “We suspect the intelligence services of being behind this harsh sentence, and we call on the authorities to explain why a military court was used to try an administrative offence.”

Khattak and Ismaïl added: “We also urge the Afghan justice system to take more account of the role of media and journalists as guardians of public interest, and we call for a more relaxed visa regime for reporters, including the possibility of visas on arrival.”

Khan, who works for the Karachi-based TV station ARY News, was arrested by the Afghan authorities in Nangarhar in April after travelling to Peshawar, in northwestern Pakistan, to interview Taliban leaders and then suddenly losing contact with his colleagues.

His arrest in Afghanistan was reported by the Pakistani media on 5 May. Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) was subsequently said to suspect him of spying but no formal charge was brought against him.

The issue of the Taliban is often a source of tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with each country accusing the other of being “lax” towards the Taliban or even being directly involved in the terrorist actions that affect both countries.

Afghanistan is ranked 128th out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS

An Afghan court in eastern Nangarhar province convicted Faizullah Khan, a reporter for the Karachi-based privately owned news channel ARY News, of illegally entering the country and sentenced him last week, ARY News Senior Vice President Ammad Yousaf told CPJ by phone.

Afghan authorities had also accused of Khan of spying, but the three-judge bench dismissed the espionage charge, according to his lawyer, The Express Tribune reported.

Khan had traveled to Peshawar in April to report along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and had been regularly checking in with his colleagues, according to Yousaf. Then he suddenly stopped communicating. A few days later, on April 27, ARY received a call informing the channel that Khan was being detained in a Jalalabad jail, Yousaf told CPJ. Khan had traveled to the region to interview Taliban leaders, news reports said.

“We call on Afghan authorities to immediately release Faizullah Khan,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Bob Dietz. “No journalist should face such a harsh prison term for going about reporting.”

In the days following Khan’s arrest, ARY notified Pakistani officials, who raised concerns with tribal chiefs and officials in Afghanistan, but were unsuccessful at gaining Khan’s release, Yousaf told CPJ.

An appeal in the case has been filed, he said.

Committee to Protect Journalists

Faizullah Khan, a reporter for Karachi-based ARY News, was detained by Afghan authorities in eastern Nangarhar province in April this year. Some reports had earlier suggested Faizullah was on assignment to interview Taliban leaders as part of his professional duties.

“A panel of three-judges in eastern Nangarhar province has convicted Faizullah Khan,” a Pakistani embassy official said, while speaking from Kabul via phone.
Faizullah was also accused of spying; however, the bench dropped espionage charges and jailed him for illegal entry to Afghanistan, his Afghan lawyer says.

An Afghan source in Jalalabad, who is privy to the court’s proceedings, said the judges also mentioned Faizullah Khan’s attempt of interviewing the Taliban in the verdict.

An appeal against the conviction will be filed in an Afghan High Court, a source said.

Pakistani embassy in Kabul and the country’s consulate in Jalalabad had been actively involved to help the journalist in the legal battle, the embassy spokesman, Akhtar Munir said, talking to The Express Tribune from Kabul.

He said Ambassador Abrar Hussain had held a series of meetings with key ministers and senior officials to secure the release of the journalist. “The embassy will continue efforts to help the Pakistani journalist while using all legal options,” the spokesman said.

Sources said South Asian Free Media Association (Safma) Afghan chapter had been contacted in Kabul to seek its help in the release of the Pakistani journalist. However Safma’s in-charge in Kabul had called for a letter from Safma office-bearers in Pakistan.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urged the Afghanistan and Pakistan governments to act urgently for safe return of the journalist.

International media groups say both Pakistan and Afghanistan are dangerous regions for journalists to operate with poor safety and security situations and impunity in attacks on journalists.

Express Tribune

The main gate of the house was damaged in the attack which happened just over two weeks after an explosive device was found and subsequently defused by the Bomb Disposal Squad near Baghwan’s house.

Around 6:25am two masked men riding on a motorcycle threw a hand grenade at the main gate of Baghwan’s house which went off with a loud bang.

According to the police, it was a China-made grenade. “We’ve registered an FIR on the complaint of Jamshed Baghwan,” an official of the Yakatot police station told The Express Tribune.

Talking about the 2kg device found on March 19 outside Baghwan’s house, he said that it was defused because it was spotted by the family on time.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Minister for Industries Shaukat Ali Yousafzai condemned the attack and ordered investigation.

Baghwan is a senior journalist and the attack on his house is, in fact, an attack on free media, Yousafzai said. It’s the government responsibility to protect journalists, he added and directed the city police chief to consult media persons and chalk out a security plan for them.

Meanwhile, the Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) condemned the attack and demanded thorough investigation.

KhUJ President Nisar Mehmood and General Secretary Tariq Afaq said Baghwan is a senior journalist and such attacks would not be tolerated. The government should fulfill its responsibility to protect journalists.

The KhUJ will stage a demonstration outside the Peshawar Press Club at 1pm on Monday to protest against the attack.

Express Tribune

PESHAWAR: Three back-to-back explosions occurred inside Peshawar’s Shama Cinema on Tuesday, killing 11 people and leaving at least 19 others injured.

According to Dawn News, multiple explosions occurred when a show was ongoing in the cinema.

Subsequently, 11 people were killed whereas 19 others were injured, an official at Lady Reading Hospital, Syed Jameel Shah, said where the wounded persons were shifted by rescue sources for medical treatment.

However, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ejaz Ahmed said eight people were killed and 22 others were injured.

An emergency was imposed in LRH and additional staff was urgently summoned.

Ahmed furthermore said three grenades were used and up to 80 people were in the cinema at the time of the explosions, according to news agency AFP.

Meanwhile, security forces cordoned off the site of attack whereas army personnel sealed the area from Shami Road.

Shama Cinema is situated in the busy Bacha Khan Chowk area of Peshawar.

The blast at the cinema came 11 days after a similar attack at Picture House Cinema situated in Kabuli Bazaar area of Peshawar.

The attack also came as negotiators for the federal government and for Taliban militants met for a second time today as part of efforts to end the bloody seven-year insurgency.

Scraps of human flesh, blood-soaked shoes and caps littered the floor of the hall after the blasts, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Akbar Khan, 62, whose left arm and left thigh were injured, told AFP from his hospital bed that he was watching a movie when a deafening blast rocked the auditorium.

“It seemed like a hot iron rod pierced through my left arm and leg as I was hit by ball bearings,” he said. “I ran towards the gate, from where I was taken to hospital.”

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid denied involvement. “We condemn the blast, its not our activity,” he told Reuters.

Backlash against PTI

Awami National Party’s (ANP) leader Zahid Khan strongly condemned the attack and termed it a failure of security. He criticised the peace process and alleged that Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan was a liar, adding that people behind the bombing wanted to destroy the country.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan expressed sorrow over the loss of precious lives whereas former president Asif Ali Zardari also condemned the incident.

Meanwhile, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Altaf Hussain immediately demanded the arrest of the people responsible for the attack.

Imran Khan said the blasts were an attempt to sabotage peace efforts.

DAWN