Pak police files case against 4 papers under anti-

Islamabad: Pakistani police have registered a case under an anti-terrorism law against four newspapers, including the mass circulation Urdu daily Jang, for publishing press releases and statements of banned militant groups.

The case was registered against the Jang, Mashriq, Intikhab and Century Express newspapers in Quetta city on Friday, officials told the media. The publishers, printers, editors and reporters of the dailies were named in an FIR registered under various sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act on the basis of a report from the chief of Quetta city police station. Police officials said the action was taken because the newspapers were publishing statements from banned militant organisations even after a court had prohibited them from doing so. The four dailies had recently published a statement issued by the Jaish Al-Islam. In the statement, the militant group had claimed responsibility for killing DSP Amir Mohammad Dasti and his bodyguard in Quetta on April 8. The FIR referred to a notification issued by the Balochistan government to declare the Jaish Al-Islam a banned group. The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (Dastoori) condemned the registration of the case. In a statement, PFUJ-D president Idrees Bakhtiar described the move as "illogical and unacceptable". The PFUJ-D urged the Balochistan government to withdraw the case against the editors, publishers and reporters of the dailies. PTI