KARACHI, May 17: The Karachi Union of Journalists has expressed its deep concern over reports of pressure from the government and political groups on journalists working in the electronic media and criticized the tone of the remarks of the federal information minister over the coverage of PML leader Shahbaz Sharif's arrival and forced departure.

In a statement, the KUJ deplored the detention of BBC correspondent Zafar Abbas, cameraman Faisal Zaidi, detention of CNN correspondent Mohsin Naqvi, and preventing a TV channel from telecasting live an interview of Mr Shahbaz Sharif before his departure.

The KUJ demanded that the government should return the "tapes" used by the BBC team which accompanied Mr Sharif from Dubai to Lahore. The KUJ demanded that the private news TV channels should be given "uplinking facility" as it was being used by the government as a pressure tool as it was using government advertisements.