Channel 24, DawnNews journalists manhandled by FIA officials at Islamabad hospital

Published July 22, 2017
Channel 24 reporter Saba Bajeer (left) and DawnNews reporter Aitzaz Hassan.— Photo courtesy: Dailymotion/author
Channel 24 reporter Saba Bajeer (left) and DawnNews reporter Aitzaz Hassan.— Photo courtesy: Dailymotion/author

Two reporters from Channel 24 and DawnNews were manhandled and illegally detained by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officers and family members of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Chairman Zafarul Haq Hijazi on Friday.

The incident took place at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), where FIA officials had brought Hijazi for a medical check-up following the dismissal of his pre-arrest bail plea earlier in the day.

When Hijazi arrived at the hospital, Channel 24 reporter Saba Bajeer took some photos of the SECP chairman using her cellphone and inquired about his health. At this, FIA Assistant Director Tahir Tanveer approached Bajeer, grabbed her by the arm and asked her to delete the photos captured by her, according to an application filed by DawnNews reporter Aitzaz Hassan for legal action against the harassment.

The FIA official then started pushing Hassan, on whose suggestion Bajeer had proceeded to delete the photos. Hassan's mobile phone and cards were then seized in the presence of 6-7 FIA personnel.

The FIA personnel then forced Bajeer and Hassan into a room at Pims, where they were illegally detained for an hour without their phones.

Meanwhile, the SECP chairman's family members together with FIA officials manhandled other media representatives who had gathered by then to rescue their colleagues. The two reporters were let go after journalists started a protest against FIA's actions.

Several police officers also reached Pims along with a police contingent to bring the situation under control.

The journalists have urged police in an application to take legal action against FIA officers and personnel for manhandling and illegally detaining them.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan also took notice of the incident and sought a report from acting director general of FIA.

Opinion

Editorial

Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...
By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...