Pakistan: unionist subject to smear campaign, doxxing
Event- Country
- Pakistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2021
- Event Description
A court notice published in The Daily Jang newspaper on February 28 has levelled allegations of criminal conduct against the secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Pakistan affiliate the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) express concern at attempts to silence the voice of the union leader.
The Karachi-based Urdu newspaper published the warrant notice against Rana Muhammad Azeem, which according to the daily newspaper was a paid notice by the court. The notice also detailed the personal address and telephone number of the leader.
The PFUJ strongly condemned the alleged registration of a case against its secretary general and urged the concerned authorities to look into the “allegedly false case made in an effort to silence the leaders’ voice for the rights of the media workers”. It also said that Rana Azeem had been tagged with some other renowned persons for criticism on the national media channel during a talk show.
The notice with the signature of second Additional District and Sessions Judge, Ashraf Hussain Khawaja, alleges that Rana Azeem committed a crime or is believed to commit a crime ‘punishable’ under Pakistan Penal Code yet fails to detail the alleged crime. The notice also refers to the leader as a guest and analyst of the television show “Kahra Sach”, which he has been a regular commentator on over several years.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Judicial Harassment
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 24.869961561448946
Longitude: 67.01693371540635
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 28 February 2021, Rana Muhammad Azeem, labour rights worker, had a false court notice published in a media outlet together with his personal information by a court in Karachi, Pakistan.
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