Veteran Journalist Najam Sethi Arrested
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by this weekend’s arrest of veteran journalist Najam Sethi, founder and editor of the English-language weekly newspaper Friday Times. Sethi is the third Pakistani journalist arrested under suspicious circumstances in less than a week, prompting fears that your government is engaged in a campaign to silence the country’s independent press. All three men had been interviewed before their arrest by a BBC television crew preparing a report on high-level official corruption in Pakistan for the program “Correspondent.”
Election Commissioner dismisses petition against editor Najam Sethi
Islamabad, October 6, 1999 – After a two-hour hearing, the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan dismissed a petition that sought to exclude embattled editor Najam Sethi from political life by having him declared non-Muslim. The petition was filed on June 24 by legislator Syed Zafar Ali Shah, a member of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s ruling…
Election Commissioner dismisses petition against editor Najam Sethi
Islamabad, October 6, 1999 – After a two-hour hearing, the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan dismissed a petition that sought to exclude embattled editor Najam Sethi from political life by having him declared non-Muslim. The petition was filed on June 24 by legislator Syed Zafar Ali Shah, a member of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s ruling…
Pakistan: Legislator seeks to bar journalist Najam Sethi from public life
July 19, 1999 His Excellency Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Prime Minister Prime Minister’s Secretariat Islamabad, Pakistan Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned by the ongoing persecution of Najam Sethi, founding editor of the English-language weekly newspaper The Friday Times. On July 15, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) summoned Sethi to appear…
CPJ Disturbed by the Persecution of Najam Sethi in Pakistan
June 23,1999 His Excellency Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Prime Minister Prime Minister’s Secretariat Islamabad, Pakistan Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed by evidence that your government is continuing to persecute Najam Sethi, chief editor of the English-language weekly newspaper The Friday Times. In the last few weeks, various government agencies have blocked…
Najam Sethi, editor of the The Friday Times. Released
June 3, 1999 His Excellency Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Prime Minister Prime Minister’s Secretariat Islamabad, Pakistan The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes yesterday’s unconditional release of Najam Sethi, the founding editor of the English-language weekly The Friday Times. The government’s decision to drop all charges against him is a very encouraging development. However, CPJ remains concerned…
Sethi: Pakistani media challenging military
Pakistani journalist Najam Sethi was in the United States last week to talk about the challenges facing his country at a critical moment. Ever the contrarian, he also sees opportunities. “For the first time the media is challenging the military,” he told an audience of friends and colleagues at CPJ offices in New York. “That’s…
Pakistani news program cancelled amid defamation suits from prime minister
On August 6, 2019, Pakistani broadcaster Channel 24 HD cancelled the “Najam Sethi Show,” a news and political commentary program, after the broadcaster’s management received a phone call from an unidentified individual demanding the show be dropped, according to Najam Sethi, the show’s host, who spoke with CPJ on the phone.
Roots of Impunity
3. Intimidation, Manipulation, and Retribution A couple of years ago, Hamid Mir, Najam Sethi, Umar Cheema, and other prominent figures in the news media began going public with the threats they were receiving from intelligence agencies. It was a risky calculation, but the silence, they reasoned, encouraged intimidation and allowed impunity to persist.
Another Pakistan attack, this one online
The Friday Times in Lahore has come under cyberattack. Earlier Friday, its website could not be accessed. Najam Sethi, the paper’s editor, told CPJ that someone has “launched an attack on the websites of both The Friday Times and Vanguard Books [the book publishing and distribution company that owns the Times]. A tsunami of killer…