Sialkot Murders

[Coltsfan]

His name is Hafiz Muhammad Imran Shehzad and he is Duniya News Reporter and there is already a murder attempt on him.

Reporters Sans Frontières - Murder attempt on journalist over TV report of lynching

unya TV reporter Hafiz Muhammad Imran Shehzad has just been the target of an apparent murder attempt in Sialkot, in the northeastern province of Punjab, because his coverage of the lynching of two brothers in the presence of police officers in Sialkot, which shocked Pakistani public opinion.

Aged 27, Imran has been hospitalised with the injuries he received when he was attacked and badly beaten outside his Sialkot home on 29 August by two men who arrived on a motorcycle.

“I did an exclusive report showing the brutality reigning in Sialkot but now I am under threat from those who have been implicated in this case,” he told Reporters Without Borders. “My attackers have just done what they had been threatening to do for days (...) I call on all the organisations that fight for press freedom to protect me against the people who want to kill me because of my report.”

Reporters Without Borders urges the Pakistani government, especially federal interior ministry Rehman Malik, to react quickly and give Imran the necessary protection. The organisation also calls on Pakistani TV station executives to discuss how they could protect their reporters, who are increasingly the target of violence.

Imran’s report on the lynching of two teenagers by a mob in Sialkot on 15 August included exclusive footage of the incident. The youths were accused of a theft, but Imran showed that the lynching was the result of dispute over a cricket match. The report of the incident, and especially the fact that the police looked on without taking any action, had such an impact that the supreme court has been forced to intervene. Seventeen people, including police officers, have been arrested on murder charges.

Speaking by telephone, Imran told Reporters Without Borders he suspected that local police officers were involved in the beating he received, which happened shortly after his report was shown at a supreme court hearing. Following the hearing, Imran was threatened by a man who had just alighted from a police car. Imran had managed to film him giving money to police officers in an attempt to influence their investigation.

Most cases of violence against journalists in recent months have involved the employees of privately-owned TV stations, whose influence is growing steadily. Imran Khan of Din News TV, Anwar Kamal of Geo News, Zafarullah Banori of Ary One, Ejazul Haq of City-42 TV, Azmat Ali Bangash of Samaa TV, Malik Arif of Samaa TV and Ashiq Ali Mangi of Mehran TV have all been the targets of violence.

The government censored two of the leading TV stations, Geo News and Ary One, last month until a court intervened: http://en.rsf.org/pakistan-broadcas...

Thanks JG,

Hopefully this guy is provided security and commended for his work. Had it not been for this video, this incident might have been just another news on page 3 of news papers, no to mention the culprits most probably would have gone free.....

 

[jinxeD_girl]

Police is hiding the faces of the culprits.. how can we be exactly sure.. they caught the REAL culprits.. show their faces.. Who can trust the police after this incident..

 

[Hyde]

Police is hiding the faces of the culprits.. how can we be exactly sure.. they caught the REAL culprits.. show their faces.. Who can trust the police after this incident..

There is no need to bring each and everything before the public. The inquiry is still going on and once the case is decided in the court, only then they can/should reveal all the relevant details in the public. Confidentiality is very important in such sensitive matters

Let the higher authorities do their job for now and trust me the way it has shaped up, it is very hard to survive for anybody involved in this lynching

 

[jinxeD_girl]

There is no need to bring each and everything before the public. The inquiry is still going on and once the case is decided in the court, only then they can/should reveal all the relevant details in the public. Confidentiality is very important in such sensitive matters

Let the higher authorities do their job for now and trust me the way it has shaped up, it is very hard to survive for anybody involved in this lynching

I hope so Zaki! Trust me.. Me and my Mom got hold of this news on someone's facebook 1 week ago and since then, I haven't slept properly. Me and my mom cry almost everyday whenever we hear the update on the news. I wish I never heard about this news.. i have tried to distract my mind, but it again goes back to the same incident..

Last year I read a book on true crime "Death in White Bear Lake", which was based on one of the most famous scandals of our state (Minnesota) - a foster mom kills her 3 year old (Dennis Jurgens) after continuous abuse and the kid's real mom looks for him after 21 years and finds the horrific truth. I wasn't able to distract my mind from that story for 6 months.. and now these Sialkot killings... damn... why some people are so cruel

 

[Machoman]

After read the whole report I must say that the people who point on these brother wrongly are responsible for this whole mess. Just because of taking revenge of prevoius fight. They killed innocent youth. What a shame, I am so sorry to see that people beating them so badly.

 

[forcetrip]

The main accused in the Sialkot lynching of two brother, SHO Rana Ilyas, was arrested on Friday evening.

Sources state that the accused was arrested in an operation conducted between the Iran and Turkey border, hinting at international security assistance.

SHO Rana Ilyas had previously managed to evade custody on August 11. Ilyas, who fled from the office of the DSP Sialkot, was brought to the office so that he could be produced before a court for a judicial remand.

Sialkot Lynching: SHO Rana Ilyas arrested – The Express Tribune

First bit of good news this year. We have successfully recaptured the main accused for the second time.

 

[Hyde]

Sialkot tragedy: SHO Rana Ilyas arrested

Updated at: 2206 PST, Friday, September 03, 2010
SIALKOT: SHO Rana Ilyas who went into hiding after the lynching of two brothers in Sialkot has now been arrested, Geo News reported Friday.

geo.tv - Security Verification

 

[Patriot]

The main accused in the Sialkot lynching of two brother, SHO Rana Ilyas, was arrested on Friday evening.

Sources state that the accused was arrested in an operation conducted between the Iran and Turkey border, hinting at international security assistance.

SHO Rana Ilyas had previously managed to evade custody on August 11. Ilyas, who fled from the office of the DSP Sialkot, was brought to the office so that he could be produced before a court for a judicial remand.

Sialkot Lynching: SHO Rana Ilyas arrested – The Express Tribune

First bit of good news this year. We have successfully recaptured the main accused for the second time.

Thanks to Interpol and our Intelligence Agencies.

 

[Gentle Typhoon]

Postmortem of Sialkot lynching victims postponed

Murdered brothers, Mughees (17) and Muneeb (15). – (File Photo)

LAHORE: The Civil Court on Tuesday postponed the re-postmortem of the two brothers killed in Sialkot.

The family of murdered brothers, Mughees and Muneeb, said that it did not trust the medical board formed to perform the second post mortem.

The re-postmortem of the victims of a mob lynching incident, was to be conducted today in Imam Sahab cemetery on the orders of the Supreme Court.

A request-petition had been put forward by the family in Civil Judge Sialkot Abu Bakar Siddique’s court. The family proposed induction of a senior surgeon from Lahore into a newly formed medical board. The judge agreed to the request and a new date for the postmortem will be announced in few days. – DawnNews

 

[Safriz]

Anybody knows if the murdered were caught and convicted and Hanged?

 

[Thorough Pro]

Made me cry, Allah save this country from these monsters..

The real monsters were the ones watching, if they did not have the courage to stop this brutality, they need not stay there. People were watching and recording as though it was some kind of entertainment. It reflects the lowest of low, moral & ethical values of these people.