http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C11%5C07%5Cstory_7-11-2007_pg7_17
SAFMA condemns muzzling of Pakistani press * South Asian Free Media Association official urges press not to buckle under pressure, vows to struggle for free reporting Staff Report LAHORE: South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) Pakistan Central Secretary General Imtiaz Alam, who was picked up by the police on November 5, was released on Tuesday after a 36-hour detention. All South Asian chapters of the association, in a joint statement, condemned Alam's illegal detention in Lahore and the draconian measures enforced to muzzle press freedom in the country. "We, the presidents of all national SAFMA chapters in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, condemn the detention of Mr Alam for over 36 hours, without furnishing any charges, and keeping him incommunicado without giving him access to his attorney and family," reads the statement. "We also note with concern the general adverse conditions for the Pakistani mass media under the enforcement of emergency rule and urge the government of Pakistan to refrain from attempting to muzzle the media of Pakistan, and thereby deprive the citizens of their due rights to information and expression. We call on the Government of Pakistan to respect international standards of freedom of expression and information, and media rights, and to desist from actions that suppress the functioning of media enterprises and channels. "The current enforcement of emergency rule in Pakistan is resulting in widespread violation of human rights through the mass arrest of lawyers, human rights and political activists, journalists and other professionals. Suppression of political activity and the abuse of human rights and democratic norms will not help attain the goal of eliminating terrorism," the statement concludes. According to SAFMA, police took Alam into custody in the early hours of Monday morning (November 5) and kept shifting him from one police station to another. Before his arrest, the SAFMA secretary general had condemned the proclamation of emergency, suspension of the Constitution, sacking of the superior judiciary, enforcement of draconian media laws on the electronic and print media, and had called for a joint struggle for the restoration of media freedom and fundamental human rights. Don't buckle: On his release, Alam vowed to continue the struggle and thanked the journalists' community and friends for their tireless efforts to get him released. He called on the media not to buckle under pressure and keep up its resolve to fight for press freedom and freedom of expression in Pakistan.
