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Pakistan Orders Times Reporter to Leave By RICK GLADSTONE Published: May 10, 2013 Pakistans Interior Ministry has ordered the expulsion of The New
York Times bureau chief in Islamabad on the eve of national
elections, the newspaper said Friday. The Times has strongly
protested the move and is seeking his reinstatement. The ministry did not give any
detailed explanation for the
expulsion order, which was
delivered by police officers in the
form of a two-sentence letter to the
bureau chief, Declan Walsh, at 12:30 a.m. Thursday local time at his home. It is informed that your visa is
hereby canceled in view of your
undesirable activities, the order
stated. You are therefore advised to
leave the country within 72 hours. The timing of the order means Mr. Walsh must exit
Pakistan on the night of the elections, the first in the
countrys history in which one elected civilian
government completes its term and hands over power to
another elected government. Mr. Walsh, 39, is a veteran correspondent who has lived
and worked in Pakistan for nine years, most of it for The
Guardian newspaper of Britain. He was hired by the
Times in January 2012 and has written extensively
about the countrys violent political convulsions, Islamist
insurgency and sometimes tense relations with the United States, which has been conducting drone attacks
on militants in Pakistans border areas with Afghanistan. Jill Abramson, the newspapers executive editor,
expressed concern about the order in a letter of protest
to Pakistans interior minister, Malik Muhammad Habib Khan, describing Mr. Walsh as a reporter of integrity who has at all times offered
balanced, nuanced and factual reporting on Pakistan. She asked the minister to
reinstate Mr. Walshs visa. The accusation of undesirable activities, she wrote, is vague and unsupported, and Mr.
Walsh has received no further explanation of any alleged wrongdoing. The timing of
the order was also a surprise, she wrote, coming as Pakistan is holding national
elections that are regarded as an important democratic milestone. The expulsion of an established journalist, on the day of the voting, contradicts that
impression, she wrote. Pakistani officials did not respond to repeated requests for details over the past two
days. The country is being run by an interim government until a new one is formed
after the elections on Saturday. The run-up to the elections has been particularly violent, with suicide bombings and
other attacks by militants impairing the ability of several parties to campaign
effectively. Threats by the Pakistani Taliban and other extremist groups have
threatened many candidates, particularly members of liberal and secular parties. On
Thursday, unidentified gunmen kidnapped a candidate who is a son of former Prime
Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, throwing the election into more turmoil. Mr. Walsh said the circumstances of the expulsion orders delivery were highly
unusual. He had been on a social visit Thursday evening, he said, when he received a
phone call from an unrecognized number advising him to come home now. Mr.
Walsh arrived to find a half-dozen police officers and a plainclothes officer waiting
outside. The plainclothes officer approached his front gate, handed him the letter and
asked him to sign for it. I opened the letter in front of him because I knew it was something serious, he said.
This was a complete bolt from the blue. I had no inclination that anything of this sort
was coming. Free-press advocates expressed anger at news of Mr. Walshs expulsion, asserting that
it reinforced Pakistans reputation as one of the most inhospitable countries for
journalists. The expulsion of Declan Walsh shows just how much the authorities fear independent
media coverage, Bob Dietz, the Asia program coordinator of the Committee to Protect
Journalists, said in a statement on the groups Web site. The vagueness and the late night delivery of the expulsion order smack of a need to intimidate foreign and local
journalists on the eve of historic elections that could herald the growth of democracy
in Pakistan. Pakistani journalists are routinely intimidated, assaulted or worse. According to
Reporters Without Borders, a press advocacy group based in Paris, Pakistan has been
the worlds deadliest country for journalists since the start of 2013, with six killed in connection with their work. The Committee to Protect Journalists said the Pakistani
authorities have failed to prosecute a single suspect in the 23 murders of journalists
over the past decade.
York Times bureau chief in Islamabad on the eve of national
elections, the newspaper said Friday. The Times has strongly
protested the move and is seeking his reinstatement. The ministry did not give any
detailed explanation for the
expulsion order, which was
delivered by police officers in the
form of a two-sentence letter to the
bureau chief, Declan Walsh, at 12:30 a.m. Thursday local time at his home. It is informed that your visa is
hereby canceled in view of your
undesirable activities, the order
stated. You are therefore advised to
leave the country within 72 hours. The timing of the order means Mr. Walsh must exit
Pakistan on the night of the elections, the first in the
countrys history in which one elected civilian
government completes its term and hands over power to
another elected government. Mr. Walsh, 39, is a veteran correspondent who has lived
and worked in Pakistan for nine years, most of it for The
Guardian newspaper of Britain. He was hired by the
Times in January 2012 and has written extensively
about the countrys violent political convulsions, Islamist
insurgency and sometimes tense relations with the United States, which has been conducting drone attacks
on militants in Pakistans border areas with Afghanistan. Jill Abramson, the newspapers executive editor,
expressed concern about the order in a letter of protest
to Pakistans interior minister, Malik Muhammad Habib Khan, describing Mr. Walsh as a reporter of integrity who has at all times offered
balanced, nuanced and factual reporting on Pakistan. She asked the minister to
reinstate Mr. Walshs visa. The accusation of undesirable activities, she wrote, is vague and unsupported, and Mr.
Walsh has received no further explanation of any alleged wrongdoing. The timing of
the order was also a surprise, she wrote, coming as Pakistan is holding national
elections that are regarded as an important democratic milestone. The expulsion of an established journalist, on the day of the voting, contradicts that
impression, she wrote. Pakistani officials did not respond to repeated requests for details over the past two
days. The country is being run by an interim government until a new one is formed
after the elections on Saturday. The run-up to the elections has been particularly violent, with suicide bombings and
other attacks by militants impairing the ability of several parties to campaign
effectively. Threats by the Pakistani Taliban and other extremist groups have
threatened many candidates, particularly members of liberal and secular parties. On
Thursday, unidentified gunmen kidnapped a candidate who is a son of former Prime
Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, throwing the election into more turmoil. Mr. Walsh said the circumstances of the expulsion orders delivery were highly
unusual. He had been on a social visit Thursday evening, he said, when he received a
phone call from an unrecognized number advising him to come home now. Mr.
Walsh arrived to find a half-dozen police officers and a plainclothes officer waiting
outside. The plainclothes officer approached his front gate, handed him the letter and
asked him to sign for it. I opened the letter in front of him because I knew it was something serious, he said.
This was a complete bolt from the blue. I had no inclination that anything of this sort
was coming. Free-press advocates expressed anger at news of Mr. Walshs expulsion, asserting that
it reinforced Pakistans reputation as one of the most inhospitable countries for
journalists. The expulsion of Declan Walsh shows just how much the authorities fear independent
media coverage, Bob Dietz, the Asia program coordinator of the Committee to Protect
Journalists, said in a statement on the groups Web site. The vagueness and the late night delivery of the expulsion order smack of a need to intimidate foreign and local
journalists on the eve of historic elections that could herald the growth of democracy
in Pakistan. Pakistani journalists are routinely intimidated, assaulted or worse. According to
Reporters Without Borders, a press advocacy group based in Paris, Pakistan has been
the worlds deadliest country for journalists since the start of 2013, with six killed in connection with their work. The Committee to Protect Journalists said the Pakistani
authorities have failed to prosecute a single suspect in the 23 murders of journalists
over the past decade.
