Arrests Mar Press Freedom Day Rally

Baton-wielding police arrested dozens of journalists as they gathered for a World Press Freedom Day rally outside a federal government building Tuesday.

The journalists, who were placed on a bus and detained at a police station, were freed several hours later.

Pakistan Union of Journalists President Pervez Shaukat, who was among those arrested, said the journalists were leading a peaceful rally to mark the occasion when “we were attacked by a police contingent that included anti-terror squad commandos.”

Information Secretary Shahid Rafi said the reporters were arrested because they had failed to heed a warning not to march toward the prime minister’s office.

When news of the arrests spread, about 100 more reporters staged a sit-in outside the National Assembly building, where they had been covering a session of parliament.

Pakistani journalist organizations quickly condemned the arrests and asked the government to order an immediate inquiry.

Opposition party legislators walked out of the National Assembly session and gathered outside Parliament House in support of the journalists. The legislators said the episode exposed the government’s efforts to curb press freedom.

Information Minister Sheik Rashid Ahmed ordered the release of the arrested journalists. Hours earlier, he had spoken at a World Press Freedom Day seminar in Islamabad, the capital, telling the audience that there were no government curbs on the news media.