KARACHI, Nov 22: The Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) has strongly condemned registration of FIRs against those newsmen who were arrested on Nov 20 outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC) for staging a rally against the imposition of emergency in the country and curtailment of press freedom.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, the KUJ rejected the charges mentioned in the two FIRs (282/07 and 283/07) registered at the Frere police station, and said it considered the registration of the FIRs as contrary to the assurances given by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad when a KUJ-KPC delegation called on him on Wednesday to apprise him of the uncalled-for police action against the protesting journalists.

KUJ President Shamim-ur-Rahman demanded action against those who had engineered the malicious FIRs, and declared that journalists would continue their protest until the FIRs were withdrawn and their grievances were addressed. He warned that if any harm came to media people for expressing their reservations over the imposition of emergency and media curbs, the government would be held accountable.He recalled that the journalists who had tried to march towards the Governor’s House on Nov 20 were neither armed nor unruly. As such, he added, the police action was uncalled for and registration of FIRs unjustifiable. “They only intended to present the governor a memorandum.”

The police have booked 100-150 journalists under sections 147/148/149/353/186/324,337A ( I ) 427 QD of the PPC which, the KUJ claimed, were “inserted in the FIR with mala fide and criminal intent to harass the media.”

The KUJ also rejected the police version that stated that two of the journalists, Aajiz Jamali and Zubair Rehman, had not sustained injuries in the baton charge. It also rejected the charges contained in FIR 283/07 against Moosa Kaleem, Najeeb Ahmad, A. H. Khanzada, Ghulam Mustafa and M. Asghar Umar.