ISLAMABAD: Hard-hitting journalist Matiullah Jan told JournalismPakistan.com on Friday night that it was untrue he had been fired by the DawnNews management and asked to clean out his office immediately. At the same time Mati hinted this status could change in a week’s time. Earlier, throughout Friday, reports of Mati being one of three big names to be sacked by DawnNews spread through the industry like wildfire. It had been reported that Mati, host of the controversial but hugely popular Aapna Gareban, had been shown the door along with Mubashir Zaidi, Editor DawnNews, and Azaz Syed. Strangely enough this information was confirmed by Dawn insiders as well as sources in other news channels, including Geo and ARY. REFERENCE: Mati not out of DawnNews just yet Steve Manuel JournalismPakistan.com May 26, 2012 http://journalismpakistan.com/news-detail.php?newsid=142
Apna Gareban "Forcibly Closed" Dawn News Censorship. (Courtesy BBC)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4rXfpxFNps
صحافیوں کا’گریبان‘ پروگرام بند
آخری وقت اشاعت: جمعرات 30 جون 2011 , 16:34 GMT 21:34 PST
اپنے گریبان میں جھانکنا کتنا مشکل ہے، یہ بات مطیع اللہ جان اچھی طرح جان گئے ہیں۔ ڈان نیوز کے اینکر پرسن نے اس عنوان سے اپنا پروگرام شروع کیا تھا جس میں کسی اور کی نہیں بلکہ اپنے ہی طبقے یعنی صحافیوں کا احتساب کیا گیا۔ لیکن یہ پروگرام زیادہ دیر نہیں چل سکا اور بقول مطیع اللہ جان کے اس کے ایک پروگرام کی ریکارڈنگ جاری تھی کہ اسے بند کرنا پڑا۔ اسلام آباد سے آصف فاروقی کی رپورٹ:
Termination Letter of Mr. Matiullah Jan
It was said Mati was targeted because of his almost ‘missionary-like’ zeal to reveal the ‘truth’ about the media, politicians, and judiciary and of course, the military. Aapna Gareban is seen by many to have precipitated Mati’s downfall. In the program, which drew both extreme criticism and rave reviews, Mati exposed corrupt journalists. Mati has a reputation of being a straight talker and this trait has ruffled more than a few feathers in all four areas of interest. On the other hand, insiders at DawnNews say Mati was part of a ‘power lobby’ that did not sit well with the management and especially with the new Director News Zahid Mazhar. They say Mati, Mubashir and Azaz have been told their last working day was May 31st. REFERENCE: Mati not out of DawnNews just yet Steve Manuel JournalismPakistan.com May 26, 2012 http://journalismpakistan.com/news-detail.php?newsid=142
Asghar Khan Interview Dawn News 29 January 2012 (Part 01)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahuv0FSgfDk
Asghar Khan Interview Dawn News 29 January 2012 (Part 02)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p5xL4CuRuI
This could fit with Mati’s assertion that his status might not be the same in a ‘week’s time.’
While Mubashir has been reportedly running from pillar to post, meeting with the heads of news channels in a bid to land a job, Mati has put forward the idea for establishing a journalists’ emergency fund, a sorely needed respite for many media persons going through a difficult phase such as being jobless, especially at a time when most news channels and newspapers have been going through downsizing. While his proposal has largely been greeted enthusiastically and considered a meaningful and badly needed initiative, there exists a certain lobby bent on discrediting Mati and accusing him of attempting to make “a quick buck.” Those that know Mati say this accusation is the result of envy and vindictiveness. Mubashir, it has been learned tried to meet Dawn Editor Zafar Abbas to land a job, but was not successful. He is also said to have tried to approach Zafar Siddiqui, the owner of Samaa and CNBC but got the cold shoulder. Meanwhile, resignation letters have reportedly been prepared for Mati, Mubashir and Azaz, according to a source within DawnNews HR. The three have been given up till May 31st to resign. If they do not, termination letters will be issued. Industry watchers are waiting with bated breaths to see what happens. The buzz is that the trio will resign and that it is the only option open. REFERENCE: Mati not out of DawnNews just yet Steve Manuel JournalismPakistan.com May 26, 2012 http://journalismpakistan.com/news-detail.php?newsid=142
General (R) Mirza Aslam Beg Misbehaves & Attacks Journalist Azaz Syed (Dawn News)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsaN2LriLeU
ISLAMABAD, Jan 19 Unidentified people attacked the house of a reporter of DawnNews in the early hours of Tuesday and damaged property. The attackers did not cause any physical harm to Azaz Syed and his family, and left after hurling stones at the house and damaging his car. Mr Syed told Dawn that his younger brother woke him up at around 3am after sensing commotion outside their house in Alipur Town. In the meantime, the attackers started hurling stones. This lasted for a few minutes, terrorising the three members of the family and Mr Syed`s cousin. His father went out after the situation calmed down and found the main gate locked from outside. The windscreen of the car was smashed. Mr Syed said there were three attackers, of whom two hurled stones at the house and one stayed in a vehicle. Later, he contacted the Rescue 15 service, which sent Shahzad Town police to inquire about the incident. “I have no idea who the attackers were, but suspect that an intelligence agency was behind the incident,” he said. A complaint had been lodged with the SDPO of Rural Circle, he added. Journalists covering Senate and National Assembly proceedings walked out from both the houses of parliament in protest against the incident. Interior Minister Rehman Malik, PML-N MNA Sardar Ayaz Saddiq and ANP Senator Zahid Khan went to the press lounge and were briefed about the incident by journalists` representatives.
Mr Malik “apologised” to Mr Syed for the incident and promised that the culprits would be brought to book. He said he had asked the deputy inspector general (operation) to hold an inquiry and submit preliminary findings by the evening. The minister announced that he had suspended the official in charge of Rescue 15 for not reaching the place in time. He said the station house officer concerned would also face action if he had failed to respond promptly. Mr Syed said police had responded in time and the minister had been misguided. “I request the minister to reinstate the official.” A statement issued by DawnNews said unknown people had attacked the house of investigative reporter Azaz Syed. They locked both gates of the house, leaving the terrorised family inside. The windscreen of his car was also smashed. The attack happened a day after Mr Syed was threatened by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) sleuths over an investigative report he was preparing about the military. The DawnNews management said it would take up the matter with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minster Yousuf Raza Gilani, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar and ISPR Director-General Maj-Gen Athar Abbas as well as journalist unions and human rights organisations. The management urged the authorities to initiate a high-level inquiry. REFERENCE: DawnNews reporter`s house attacked By Our Staff Reporter http://archives.dawn.com/archives/41491
ISLAMABAD Abdul Islam Siddiqui, a soldier of the Pakistan Army hanged in 2005 after an in-camera military trial for his alleged involvement in the Dec 2003 attack on then president Pervez Musharraf`s convoy, was denied right to file writ in any superior court, Dawn investigations show. The case of six other co-accused from the Air Force is currently in the apex court. Two of the soldiers turned prosecution witnesses, but alleged torture and coercion by military authorities nevertheless. “The military authorities tortured us to get a false statement against Siddiqui. Brigadier Feroz, who was supposed to be our defending officer, threatened us into get our signatures on an English-language statement. “Prosecutor Brigadier Liaqat threatened us with dire consequences unless we signed the statement and Siddiqui`s defending officer, a major whose identity I`ve been unable to ascertain, was browbeaten by military court officials every time he tried to argue in Siddiqui`s support,” claims a former soldier Hafiz Mohammad Ashfaq. He was subsequently released but dismissed from service without benefits.
Havaldar Mohammad Younis, another witness who deposed against Siddiqui and is currently incarcerated in Gujranwala jail, also alleged torture. In an undated hand-written note to his family, he claimed that he was subjected to torture for 10 months in Rawalpindi cells to extricate a false statement against Siddiqui. “I filed an appeal before Maj-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha [current ISI Chief and the then military judge hearing appeals against conviction] who merely completed the procedural formality before upholding my sentence,” Younis said in his note. “He did not provide a lawyer or summon my witness and did not even care for my refusal to depose before him.” Attempts to secure the army`s version of events failed as military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas did not respond to calls or a detailed text message.
“Recent Supreme Court verdicts have established that persons convicted by military courts have the right to file writs in high courts,” said former attorney-general Malik Mohammad Qayyum. “I recently represented some Air Force personnel in a similar case in the SC, which upheld their right to move the judiciary against the military court verdict.” Siddiqui was prosecuted by in-camera trial and executed on Aug 20, 2005. Record shows that he was sentenced to death before Dec 25, 2004, when this fact was officially announced. Siddiqui`s family quote him as saying that he had filed appeals before military appellate courts right up to the army chief, but all were rejected. “The appeal process in the army is contradictory,” said Colonel (retd) Akram, a former military lawyer. “When the army chief confirms a death sentence, the convict can file an appeal in a military court of appeal which is headed by a military officer subordinate to the army chief.” He added that it was strange that General Musharraf — the target of the attempted murder — decided the fate of an appeal as the army chief. And, had Siddiqui been allowed the due process of the law, his mercy petition would have been presented to Pervez Musharraf in his capacity as president.
Under the law, such appeals — once rejected by the army chief and confirmed by appellant military courts — go to high courts and then the Supreme Court. If the appeal is rejected by the apex court, a mercy petition is filed before the president. In Siddiqui`s case, the process of law appears to have been short-circuited. President Musharraf rejected Siddiqui`s appeal as army chief and when this was confirmed by an appellate military court, it was interpreted by jail authorities as a rejection of his mercy petition by Musharraf in his capacity as the president.
“You are hereby informed that your son Islam Siddiqui, who was sentenced to death for an attempt on the life of the president and whose appeals have been dismissed, including a mercy petition that has been rejected by the president of Pakistan, will be hanged to death [sic] on Aug 20, 2005,” said the Aug 13, 2005, letter from the jail authorities to Siddiqui`s father Karim Buksh, mother Maria Kalsoom and brother Umer Islam Siddiqui. Siddiqui`s family members accuse jail officials of stopping them from challenging the death sentence in superior courts. “Ten days before his scheduled execution, I reached Multan jail accompanied by our lawyer and the prison authorities refused to let us meet my brother saying that the army had strictly forbidden it,” said Umer Islam Siddiqui. Normally, jail authorities are responsible for filing appeals for such convicts from jail,” said Shah Khawar [then acting attorney-general and currently the deputy AG] when contacted in December. Mr Qayyum said that military officials could still be held accountable. “The family of the hanged soldier can still seek action against military authorities by filing writ in the High Court,” he said. “The name of the Abdul Salam Siddiqui never formally appeared in the previous proceedings of the lower courts; we were told by the prosecutor that he was hanged in the same case but his case details were not provided,” said advocate Col (retd) Akram.
“If a military court awards the death sentence to any accused persons, it has to be verified by the chief of the respective armed forces; since he was the Chief of Army Staff at the time, Gen Musharraf must have signed his death warrant,” said another lawyer, advocate Altaf Malik who is representing the air force personnel. Colonel (retd) Akram, said that they never knew that there was a seventh accused in the case. “We came to know about him through media reports after his execution and later the army prosecutor told me that since he was an army man, his case was separated from the Air Force persons,” said Akram. “Even if he was involved in the assassination attempt, though, he should have been tried with the rest of the accused persons.” 35-year-old Siddiqui, a father of three who worked for Company No. 1 of the Defence Services Guard, was charged with pressing the button of the remote control device which caused an explosion on Jhanda Chichi Bridge on Dec 14, 2003. Immediately prior to his execution, Siddiqui wrote a two-page letter to his family claiming innocence. REFERENCE: Convict in Musharraf attack case denied appeal By Azaz Syed and Matiullah Jan - Abdul Islam was hanged in 2005 after an in-camera military trial for his alleged involvement in the Dec 2003 attack on then president Pervez Musharrafs convoy.-File photo http://archives.dawn.com/archives/44282
Havaldar Mohammad Younis, another witness who deposed against Siddiqui and is currently incarcerated in Gujranwala jail, also alleged torture. In an undated hand-written note to his family, he claimed that he was subjected to torture for 10 months in Rawalpindi cells to extricate a false statement against Siddiqui. “I filed an appeal before Maj-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha [current ISI Chief and the then military judge hearing appeals against conviction] who merely completed the procedural formality before upholding my sentence,” Younis said in his note. “He did not provide a lawyer or summon my witness and did not even care for my refusal to depose before him.” Attempts to secure the army`s version of events failed as military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas did not respond to calls or a detailed text message.
“Recent Supreme Court verdicts have established that persons convicted by military courts have the right to file writs in high courts,” said former attorney-general Malik Mohammad Qayyum. “I recently represented some Air Force personnel in a similar case in the SC, which upheld their right to move the judiciary against the military court verdict.” Siddiqui was prosecuted by in-camera trial and executed on Aug 20, 2005. Record shows that he was sentenced to death before Dec 25, 2004, when this fact was officially announced. Siddiqui`s family quote him as saying that he had filed appeals before military appellate courts right up to the army chief, but all were rejected. “The appeal process in the army is contradictory,” said Colonel (retd) Akram, a former military lawyer. “When the army chief confirms a death sentence, the convict can file an appeal in a military court of appeal which is headed by a military officer subordinate to the army chief.” He added that it was strange that General Musharraf — the target of the attempted murder — decided the fate of an appeal as the army chief. And, had Siddiqui been allowed the due process of the law, his mercy petition would have been presented to Pervez Musharraf in his capacity as president.
Under the law, such appeals — once rejected by the army chief and confirmed by appellant military courts — go to high courts and then the Supreme Court. If the appeal is rejected by the apex court, a mercy petition is filed before the president. In Siddiqui`s case, the process of law appears to have been short-circuited. President Musharraf rejected Siddiqui`s appeal as army chief and when this was confirmed by an appellate military court, it was interpreted by jail authorities as a rejection of his mercy petition by Musharraf in his capacity as the president.
“You are hereby informed that your son Islam Siddiqui, who was sentenced to death for an attempt on the life of the president and whose appeals have been dismissed, including a mercy petition that has been rejected by the president of Pakistan, will be hanged to death [sic] on Aug 20, 2005,” said the Aug 13, 2005, letter from the jail authorities to Siddiqui`s father Karim Buksh, mother Maria Kalsoom and brother Umer Islam Siddiqui. Siddiqui`s family members accuse jail officials of stopping them from challenging the death sentence in superior courts. “Ten days before his scheduled execution, I reached Multan jail accompanied by our lawyer and the prison authorities refused to let us meet my brother saying that the army had strictly forbidden it,” said Umer Islam Siddiqui. Normally, jail authorities are responsible for filing appeals for such convicts from jail,” said Shah Khawar [then acting attorney-general and currently the deputy AG] when contacted in December. Mr Qayyum said that military officials could still be held accountable. “The family of the hanged soldier can still seek action against military authorities by filing writ in the High Court,” he said. “The name of the Abdul Salam Siddiqui never formally appeared in the previous proceedings of the lower courts; we were told by the prosecutor that he was hanged in the same case but his case details were not provided,” said advocate Col (retd) Akram.
“If a military court awards the death sentence to any accused persons, it has to be verified by the chief of the respective armed forces; since he was the Chief of Army Staff at the time, Gen Musharraf must have signed his death warrant,” said another lawyer, advocate Altaf Malik who is representing the air force personnel. Colonel (retd) Akram, said that they never knew that there was a seventh accused in the case. “We came to know about him through media reports after his execution and later the army prosecutor told me that since he was an army man, his case was separated from the Air Force persons,” said Akram. “Even if he was involved in the assassination attempt, though, he should have been tried with the rest of the accused persons.” 35-year-old Siddiqui, a father of three who worked for Company No. 1 of the Defence Services Guard, was charged with pressing the button of the remote control device which caused an explosion on Jhanda Chichi Bridge on Dec 14, 2003. Immediately prior to his execution, Siddiqui wrote a two-page letter to his family claiming innocence. REFERENCE: Convict in Musharraf attack case denied appeal By Azaz Syed and Matiullah Jan - Abdul Islam was hanged in 2005 after an in-camera military trial for his alleged involvement in the Dec 2003 attack on then president Pervez Musharrafs convoy.-File photo http://archives.dawn.com/archives/44282
ڈان نیوز کے صحافی کے گھر پرحملہ
آصف فاروقی
بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام، اسلام آباد
آخری وقت اشاعت: منگل, 19 جنوری, 2010, 09:27 GMT 14:27 PST
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/2010/01/100119_dawn_staffer.shtml 
عزاز سید کا کہنا ہے کہ گزشتہ دنوں آئی ایس آئی کے اعلیٰ افسران نے انہیں اپنے دفتر طلب کر کے سنگین نتائج کی دھمکیاں دی تھیں
پاکستان میں انگریزی زبان کے نیوز چینل ’ڈان نیوز‘ کی انتظامیہ نے حکومت سے مطالبہ کیا ہے کہ چینل کے ایک رپورٹر کے گھر پر نامعلوم افراد کے حملے کی تحقیقات کی جائیں۔
دوسری جانب صحافتی تنظیموں نے اس واقعے کے خلاف احتجاج کا اعلان کیا ہے۔
اسلام آباد میں ’ڈان نیوز‘ کے رپورٹر اعزاز سید کے مطابق نامعلوم افراد نے پیر اور منگل کی درمیانی شب ان کے گھر پر حملہ کیا اور پورچ میں کھڑی ان کی گاڑی کو نقصان پہنچانے کے بعد گھر کو باہر سے تالے لگا کر فرار ہو گئے۔
چینل انتظامیہ کی جانب سے جاری ہونے والےایک بیان میں کہا گیا ہے کہ ان کے تحقیقاتی رپورٹر کے گھر پر یہ مبینہ حملہ ’انٹیلی جنس ادارے آئی ایس آئی کی جانب سے اعزاز سید کو ملنے والی دھمکیوں کے بعد ہوا ہے‘۔
پاکستانی فوج کے ترجمان اس خبر پر ردعمل کے لیے دستیاب نہیں تھے۔
اعزاز سید نے بی بی سی کو بتایا کہ وہ پاکستانی فوج کے بارے میں ایک تحقیقی رپورٹ پر کام کر رہے تھے جسے روکنے کے لیے، ان کے بقول، ’گزشتہ دنوں آئی ایس آئی کے اعلیٰ افسران نے انہیں اپنے دفتر طلب کر کے سنگین نتائج کی دھمکیاں دی تھیں۔ان افسران کا کہنا تھا کہ آئی ایس آئی کے سربراہ مجھ سے خوش نہیں ہیں لہذا مجھے اپنی رپورٹنگ میں قومی سلامتی سے متعلق اداروں اور افراد کے نام لینے سے پرہیز کرنا چاہئے‘۔
’ڈان نیوز‘ انتظامیہ کے بیان میں کہا گیا ہے کہ وہ اس واقعے کے بارے میں صدر مملکت، وزیراعظم، وزیردفاع، وزیرداخلہ اور وزیراطلاعات کے علاوہ فوجی حکام اور صحافتی اور انسانی حقوق کی تنظیموں کو بھی مراسلے بھیج رہے ہیں تاکہ اس جرم میں ملوث افراد کو بے نقاب کرنے کے لیے اعلی سطحی تحقیقات کی جائیں۔
صدر مملکت کے نام لکھے گئے خط میں ڈان نیوز کی انتظامیہ نے کہا کہ ’ڈان نیوز‘ کے صحافیوں کو اس سے پہلے بھی بعض افسران کی جانب سے ہراساں کیا جاتا رہا ہے۔ خط میں آئی ایس آئی کے ایک افسر کا نام، فون نمبر اور عہدہ بھی بتایا گیا ہے جس نے مبینہ طور پر اعزاز سید اور چینل کے ایک اور رپورٹر مطیع اللہ جان اور ان کے اہل خانہ کو ہراساں کرنے کی کوشش کی تھی۔
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