Reporters and security personnel deployed outside the special court on Wednesday clashed after the former were stopped from covering the treason case against Musharraf.
Police and other security personnel deployed in the National Library stopped reporters from covering the proceedings.
When reporters sought a written order to bar them from covering the event security personnel manhandled them and snatched their mobile phones.
Reporters staged a protest demonstration outside the court.
Ahmed Raza Kasuri, counsel of former president Pervez Musharraf, noticed the situation and brought the incident in the court’s knowledge. He urged the court to take notice of the situation. After this, the special court sent Registrar Abdul Ghani to probe the matter.
After resolving the issue, the registrar allowed reporters to enter the court.
Kasuri told reporters that preventing journalists from performing their professional duties was similar to putting curbs on media. He also said the government was afraid of media and the way it behaved with journalists was condemnable.
He said, “I raised the issue of stopping of media from covering the case proceeding in court, after that registrar of special court came outside and solved the matter.”
He said media tickers and breaking news have confused the government and the Press Information Department (PID) because the government wanted to keep the treason case within the boundary of court.
The reason behind this act was to keep the world unaware from the case proceedings, but no one could stop media from its professional duties, he concluded.
