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Journalism of Courage
Pakistan ordered the expulsion of three journalists from a British newspaper for using “foul and abusive” language about the troubled country and its leadership, the government said on Saturday.
The decision come a week after military ruler President Pervez Musharraf imposed Emergency rule, suspended the Constitution and slapped a ban on any coverage deemed to humiliate him or his government.
“Three foreign journalists have been given 72 hours to leave,” Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim Khan said. “They were using foul and abusive language against Pakistan and Pakistan’s leadership.”
A senior Information Ministry official said all three worked for the Daily Telegraph. However colleagues of the correspondents said two worked for the Daily Telegraph and one for the Sunday Telegraph, and that one had already left the country.
The move was taken in response to an editorial published in the Daily Telegraph on November 9, the Information Ministry official said, asking not to be named. He gave no details.
The Daily Telegraph’s editorial headquarters in London did not immediately comment on the report.
Musharraf issued rules prohibiting media from broadcasting or publishing statements ridiculing him, top government officials and the military on November4. He also stopped media from carrying statements from Islamist militants or their pictures. Under the curbs, an offender could be sentenced to up to three years in jail or fined up to 10 million rupees. Private news channels, including the BBC and CNN, have been off the air for days.
