LONDON, Nov 21: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday condemned police brutality against protesting journalists in Karachi and termed it “a barbaric act of a desperate regime aimed at quelling dissent”.

In statement issued here, the PML-N leaders said that Musharraf’s attack on the independent judiciary and media represented a challenge for the entire nation and needed to be countered through unity and protest.

They said the tactics to use excessive force by the police were deliberate so as to break the will of the protesters but such tactics always backfired against the perpetrators of tyranny in the past and would do so again in the case of Musharraf.

AMNESTY: Reacting to the arrest of journalists after police baton-charged a peaceful demonstration against curbs on media, Amnesty International secretary-general Irene Khan said on Wednesday, “Gen Musharraf is playing a game of smoke and mirrors with the Pakistani people and the international community. While the government suggests that it is relaxing its crackdown on peaceful opposition by highlighting the release of thousands of detainees, new arrests continue across the country including today in Karachi.”