Staff Reporter
A delegation of court reporters led by President of the Islamabad High Court Journalists Association (IHCJA) Saqib Bashir called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Islamabad Qazi Jamilur Rehman on Monday to draw this attention to an unpleasant incident in which some accused persons in a local court threatened the journalists who had come for coverage of a high profile case.
The journalists and media persons hailing from various media groups informed the IGP it was not the first time that an incident of threatening media persons had taken place, rather it was becoming a routine matter.
The role of police in the entire episode was unfortunately not that of a professional force and instead of controlling the situation it often stood silently without making any effort to silence or curb the threatening persons, they said.
We have security issues during the coverage of different cases in the Islamabad High Court, District Courts and the Judicial Complex.
They requested the IGP to nominate a focal person who could respond swiftly to any threat/incident being faced by journalists.
The IGP after listening to the journalists in detail, agreed there were some lapses on the police part in such matters and directed the Deputy Inspector General (DIP) Operations and the SSP Security to hold a meeting with the court reports and devise a mechanism so that such incidents could not recur. In future, if some accused threatens you, we shall lodge an FIR against him, said the IGP.
The delegation comprised the President Saqib Bashir, Secretary IHCJA, Ehtsham Kiani, Press Secretary Hussain Chaudhry, former President of the IHCJA Asad Malik and former Secretary Fiaz Mehmood.
