CPJ is alarmed by the resignation of Shaheen Sehbai, the
influential editor of The News, one of Pakistan's leading English-language
newspapers. Sehbai said today in a resignation letter addressed to his
boss but circulated among colleagues and friends that he was leaving his
post under pressure from the government, warning that Pakistani officials
were sending a message to the press to "Get in line, or be ready for the
stick."
In his letter to Mir Shakeelur Rehman, publisher and editor-in-chief of
The News, Sehbai accuses the government of pushing Rehman to fire
him and three reporters. Sehbai said Rehman had asked him to fire reporters
Kamran Khan, Amir Mateen, and Rauf Klasra because their reporting had
angered officials. The Associated Press reported that Sehbai said he would
rather quit than dismiss the reporters.
"CPJ is extremely worried about any signs of government interference with
the free press in Pakistan," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. "The
Pakistani press has been one of the few institutions strong enough to
help check the military government."
Sehbai distributed a copy of a letter from Rehman along
with his resignation letter, both of which were obtained by the Reuters
news agency. Rehman's letter held Sehbai responsible for an article that
"was perceived to be damaging to our national interest and elicited [the]
severe reaction of the government," according to Reuters.
Sehbai said in his resignation letter that the article in question was
one that appeared on February 17, authored by Kamran Khan, which concerned
the prime suspect in the abduction of slain Wall Street Journal Reporter
Daniel Pearl. In the article, Khan, who also reports for The Washington
Post, wrote that Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh had told investigators he
was also involved in the December 13 suicide squad attack on the Indian
Parliament. India blamed Pakistan-backed militants for the attack, leading
to escalating tensions between the two countries and the looming threat
of war on the subcontinent.
The government stopped all advertising in The News, after the story
appeared and intensified pressure on the newspaper's staff, according
to Sehbai.
Rehman did not comment on the allegations.
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