Journalists rally to condemn attack on Dawn

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 5 December 2019

Pakistani journalists and rights activists gathered to defend Dawn against threats from Islamists. The protesters demanded severe actions against the newspaper's staff for their reporting.

Summary

ISLAMABAD — Pakistani journalists and rights activists have rallied in support of Dawn in Islamabad and elsewhere, days after Islamists gathered at the newspaper, threatening staff and demanding its editor be hanged.

At Thursday's rally, activists and journalists condemned this week's besieging. They criticized the anti-newspaper protesters who want editor Zaffar Abbas and publisher Hameed Haroon hanged for reporting that the London Bridge attacker was of “Pakistani origin.'”

The Islamists' threats at their rally Tuesday outside Dawn's office were condemned by international media watchdogs and journalists who say the protesters blocked the entrance to the building that houses the newspaper and its sister TV channel, DawnNews.

No arrests have been made so far. — AP/Photo courtesy: Dawn

KEY POINTS:

• Journalists rallied in Islamabad in support of Dawn newspaper.
• Activists condemned threats against Dawn's editor and publisher.
• Islamists demanded the hanging of the newspaper's editor.
• International media watchdogs criticized the protesters' actions.
• No arrests have been made following the protests.