January 1, 2003	Wednesday	Shawwal 27, 1423

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RAWALPINDI, Dec 31: The police harassed and detained some journalists when they came to the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench to cover a press conference called by the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) here on Tuesday.

The press conference was called by the LHCBA president, Ikram Chaudhry, to condemn the suspension of work on construction of a new library building in the court premises by the bench.

According to Mr Ikram, the bench had not issued any prior notice to the bar about the suspension of construction work and the bar had demolished a part of the library building, all on its own, on Monday night.

He said the lawyers wanted to hold a press conference against what he called injustice, therefore, they invited media men at 12 noon. He said as the police watched the proceedings of the press conference at the bar’s auditorium and the photographers taking snaps, they informed the deputy registrar, Ijaz Ahmad, about the matter who directed them to arrest the journalists including a woman reporter of a private TV channel. He said the police took them into custody and dragged them into a room in the registrar’s office .

According to the journalists, the police used abusive language against them and took away their cameras. However, after about two hours of detention, they were freed and their cameras given back, but without any films.

According to the sources, Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi had also been informed about the matter by Minister of Information and Media Development Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who ordered an inquiry into the incident.

According to sources, the SSP, Rawalpindi, had also suspended five police officials including a sub-inspector (SI).

Later on, at about 6pm Mr Ikram also held a press conference and condemned the manhandling of mediapersons. He said the bar would always support a free and fair judiciary and discourage undemocratic and corrupt elements in the sacred institution.

He said the construction of the library was not illegal and was indispensable for lawyers.