Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Copies of Daily Express, Tribune torched in Quetta

The Express Tribune

Unidentified persons set newspaper bundles of Daily Century Express and The Express Tribune on fire in Quetta on Tuesday morning.

The hawkers could not distribute the newspapers across the province because of the incidents that took place in the newspaper market and on Saryab Road.

According to the distributors, a group of armed men reached the market near Quetta Press Club (QPC) and snatched the piles. “The men sprinkled petrol on them and set them on fire,” one of them explained. Similarly, a group of assailants intercepted the hawkers on Saryab Road, grabbed their bundles and set them on fire.

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, All Pakistan Newspaper Society, Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), Awami National Party (ANP) and journalists condemned the incident, and termed it an attack on media freedom.

The transmission of Express News has remained suspended in the city for a few days and has yet to resume. Police have been deployed to its office after receiving threats from unidentified perpetrators. The province is the most dangerous place for journalists as around 20 were killed last year.

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