Media bodies slam harassing calls to Majid Bhatti, Shoaib Jutt

KARACHI: Several journalists’ organisations have strongly condemned the threatening phone calls made to senior sports Jang/Geo News reporter Abdul Majid Bhatti and Shoaib Jutt, a reporter of a local TV channel, terming it an attack on the freedom of expression.

Abdul Majid Bhatti and Shoaib Jutt received two threatening phone calls, warning them of grave consequences. Both the journalists informed the FIA's cyber crime circle of the harassing phone calls and told the agency that in both the cases, the call IDs were not displayed on their phones.

Majid Bhatti said they informed their news organisation and the journalists’ unions. The governing bodies of the Karachi Press Club, Karachi Union of Journalists (Dastoor) and Sports Journalists Association Sindh (SJAS) strongly condemned the intimidatory tactics and expressed serious concern for the journalists' safety. The journalists' associations termed the phone calls, an attack on the freedom of expression and demanded a thorough investigation into the incident and provision of security to both the journalists.

The President KUJ Dastoor, Tariq Abul Hassan and Secretary, Muhammad Arif Khan expressed their concern over the safety of the journalists and strongly condemned the threatening phone calls saying it is the duty of a journalist to present facts with responsibility. They said both Abdul Majid Bhatti and Shoaib Jutt were senior journalists who enjoy a good reputation of reporting authentic and credible news. They demanded the law enforcement agencies to immediately register an FIR and arrest the criminals.

Meanwhile, Rawalpindi-Islamabad Sports Journalist Association (RISJA) also condemned the threatening phone calls and demanded the Prime Minister Imran Khan, and Advisor to the PM on Information Dr Firdous Aashiq Awan to order a thorough inquiry and provide foolproof security to the journalists. The RISJA office-bearers said the journalist fraternity would not tolerate any attack on the freedom of expression.