ISLAMABAD: Amnesty International on Thursday said that authorities in Pakistan should have to ensure that the criminal justice system is not utilized to harass or threaten journalists.
The human right organization has expressed its concern over Lahore High Court (LHC) decision to issue non-bailable arrest warrants of well-known journalist Cyril Almeida and imposed a ban on his traveling outside the country.
LHC summoned Cyril Almeida, who is an assistant editor at Dawn newspaper for conducting an interview with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in May 2018, who is dealing with accusation of treachery for remarks he made in the interview asserting a connection between the Pakistani military and armed groups.
Deputy South Asia Director at Amnesty International Omer Waraich said that Cyril Almeida has basically been performing his journalistic obligations. He conducted an interview with the former primer and reported what he was told. While LHC demanded him to appear in the court, the authorities should not use the criminal justice system to harass or threaten the journalist.
He said that journalism is not a crime and the work of journalist should not be taken as criminals.
The LHC said that it is convincing Cyril Almeida to show up before it in the wake of issuing repeated notices. The Dawn newspaper, nonetheless, says that the initial two notifications were never conveyed and the third just arrived a week ago.
Cyril Almeida and Dawn newspaper have both said that they are ready to completely cooperate with the courts.
This isn’t the first time a travelling ban has been imposed on Cyril Almeida. In October 2016, his name was put on Pakistan’s Exit Control List in the midst of a furore over an article he published on strains between the then ruling government and the military over alleged connects to armed groups.
In 2016, Cyril Almeida and Zaffar Abbas, the editor of Dawn, showed up before a council that inquired them about the article.
In past months, since Cyril Almeida’s meeting with Nawaz Sharif, Dawn has claimed a big decrease in its nationwide circulation while the newspaper has been passing through extreme pressure for its independent editorial policies.
Newsmen have been given warnings for stocking the Dawn newspaper and vendors have been bugged and threatened for selling it.
The CEO of Dawn Media Group Hameed Haroon on June 7, 2018 while addressing a gathering of All Pakistan Newspaper Society in Islamabad said that Pakistan is experiencing the most dangerous attack on the right to freedom of expression.
Omer Waraich said that PTI-led government has positively vowed for the security of human rights. “We expect that Imran Khan’s government will assure the protection of freedom of expression and make sure a safe and sound environment for the journalists and human right defenders, so that they can work freely without any danger to their lives,” Omer concluded.