KARACHI, Sept 3: The All Pakistan Newspapers Society has denounced registration of cases against its member publications and news agencies by Balochistan’s home secretary for reporting incidents of terrorism in the province and termed it an attempt to scuttle press freedom.

It said in a press release that while outlawed terrorist organisations threatened to kill journalists to pressurise them to get reports about their activities published, the provincial government held the publication of such reports a punishable offence.

It pointed out that some time back the Balochistan High Court had ruled that publication or telecasting of any report about banned organisations would be deemed as a violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The situation, the APNS said, placed newspapers in the province between a rock and a hard place.

The society condemned all actions taken to suppress the media.

The APNS appealed to leaders of political, social and religious organisations to raise their voice against the extremist and ‘fascist’ trends being used to curb freedom of the press.