The Nation, Waqt TV
March 26, 2009, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Unidentified gunmen killed Raja Assad Hameed, a reporter with the English-language daily The Nation and its Urdu-language television channel, Waqt, while he was parking his car at his house.
Media accounts of the attack varied. Beena Sarwar, a media
and human rights activist, looked closely into the murder and described what
she found to CPJ: “His family rushed out on hearing the gunshots and found
Hameed lying in a pool of blood. The bullets, fired at close range, had pierced
his neck and shoulder.” Doctors pronounced the journalist dead on arrival
at
Hameed was well-known and held in high regard. He was fluent
in English, Urdu, and Punjabi, and frequently appeared on Al-Jazeera, analyzing
political developments in
The day after the attack, Federal Information Minister
Qamar-uz-Zaman Kaira told the official Associated Press of Pakistan that “sick-minded
criminals must have committed the murder of a journalist in
Motive Unconfirmed: CPJ is investigating to determine whether the death was work-related.
Related Articles:
- Reporter shot and killed in Rawalpindi, March 27, 2009
