Pakistan
Pakistan: Journalists demonstrate against abduction, torture of colleague in Bannu
Peshawar: Journalists demonstrated against the failure of police to register an FIR and arrest the suspects involved in alleged kidnapping and torturing of journalist Gohar Wazir over a week ago in Pakistan's Bannu region on Thursday.
He filed a written complaint with Bannu City police station after he was set free by the captors and he received medical treatment at a local hospital on April 21. However, the complaint has not been converted into proper FIR so far, reports Dawn News.
Gohar Wazir, who is president of National Press Club Bannu and works with a Pashto private television channel, has claimed that he was given electric shocks by his captors during a round 30-hour illegal confinement at an unspecified location.
The protesters included local journalists and social media persons, who were holding placards and banners inscribed with different slogans and demands. They passed through different bazaars and said that the culprits should be arrested at the earliest, the news channel reported.
Wazir suspects involvement of some militants, believed to be pro-government in the area, in his kidnapping.
“They were asking me to record a video statement wherein I should be praising them for working for peace and development of the country,” he told Dawn.
He said when he declined to accept their demand, he was given electric shocks by them and finally when the pain became unbearable he had to record a video of their choice.
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