(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called for the release of Abdul
Latif Gola, the Urdu-language daily "Jang"'s correspondent in Jafarabad (in
the southwestern province of Balochistan), who was arrested on 17 June 2007
by police saying they were acting on the orders of an army officer
identified as Major Ali.
"Gola's arrest is totally arbitrary and unjustified," the press freedom
organisation said. "No one should ever be arrested without grounds and
without a charge. We call on the Pakistani authorities to do everything
possible to ensure that Major Ali releases Gola quickly."
Police officers and soldiers went to Gola's home at around 1:00 a.m. (local
time) on 17 June. Malik Allah Bakhsh, a police officer, ordered Gola to go
with them because "Major Ali" wanted to question him.
"We are very worried about Gola," his wife told Reporters Without Borders.
"He has done nothing and we do not know why they took him away."
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a journalist based in the Balochi
capital of Quetta told Reporters Without Borders that Gola's arrest was
probably linked to his coverage of recent clashes between the security
forces and Balochi nationalists. Gola is himself a member of the Balochi
ethnic group.