Journalists demand justice for Saleem Shehzad

In a strong act of condemnation, the journalist body of Pakistan held a nationwide protest on Thursday, against the murder of fellow journalist Saleem Shehzad.

The journalist community has demanded the immediate identification and arrest of those responsible for his death.

Protests were held in Sindh where in Hyderabad journalists, cameramen and photographers convened at the press club to vent their concerns. The tragic incident had sent shockwaves through media circles with journalists demanding the immediate identification and arrest of those responsible for his death as well as complaining of having no security while they perform their jobs.

In Sukkur, the local union of journalists said state terrorism will not be tolerated, accusing state agencies of being involved in the murder. While in Quetta, the Balochistan Union of Journalist (BUJ) staged a protest too outside the Quetta press club.

Addressing the protesters, the president of BUJ Esa Tareen said that murder of journalists was disappointing and regretted the government’s reluctance to take any action against it. He added that Shehzad was killed for his honest journalism.

Earlier on Wednesday, condemnation had poured in from international quarters as well with US secretary of State Hilary Clinton slamming the murder and welcoming the launch of a probe into the incident by Pakistani authorities.

Though fingers are being pointed at the ISI for alleged involvement in Shehzad’s murder, the Intelligence Agency has denied the claims saying the accusations are baseless. An ISI official has said the murder should not be used to wrongly accuse and malign the security agency.

Sources say the ISI official has termed the death as unfortunate but has not commented on why the slain journalist was called to ISI Headquarters and threatened by two officials.

One of these officials is now the Commander of PNS Mehran Base.

The official also ignored the claim by Human Rights Watch that interlocutors had confirmed to them that Saleem Shehzad was in ISI custody after his abduction.

Saleem Shehzad's body was found in a canal in Serai Alamgir on Tuesday, nearly 130 kilometres from Islamabad, after going missing in the capital over the weekend. A few days before his death, Shahzad had writtetn a story for Asia Times Online, which claimed that militants attacked PNS Mehran after their demand for the release of certain suspects was rejected.