June 07, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 21, 1428

NEW YORK, June 6: A US media rights watchdog group said on Wednesday that editors of two Pakistani newspapers in New York City had been threatened over reports on criminal activity in the Pakistani-American community and other articles.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said threats had been made against the editors of Urdu-language newspapers Pakistan Post and Urdu Times and thousands of copies of the papers were destroyed.

The group said that the free newspapers were targeted for stories on alleged criminal activities by Pakistani-Americans in New York City and opinion pieces by Jewish authors.

“Our research shows that threats and destruction of property were in direct reprisal for the newspapers’ reporting and commentary,” Joel Simon, CPJ’s executive director, said in a letter to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg about the issue.

The New York Police Department said its Hate Crime Unit was investigating the case after a complaint was made in late May.

The newspapers’ editors reported to the CPJ that about 10,000 copies of each newspaper had been taken from their distribution racks in late May and later found illegally dumped.

The CPJ urged Bloomberg to take action to ensure that the newspapers could continue to report without fear.—Reuters