Pakistani authorities are engaged in a "concerted" attempt to muzzle the media, using violence and financial pressure to blunt criticism of the government, a leading rights group alleged yesterday.
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf says he has introduced many media freedoms since he took power in 1999.
The US, his main international backer, cites lively debate in newspapers and on the country's booming private television channels as evidence of Musharraf's democratic credentials.
But Human Rights Watch said those liberties have been eroded, especially since March 9, when Musharraf triggered a hail of criticism from political opponents and media commentators for suspending Pakistan's top judge.
In an open letter to Musharraf, the New York-based group also alleged that security forces were implicated in the death of one journalist and the detention of five more since the start of last year.
Three of those detained were allegedly tortured, it said.
"Human Rights Watch is concerned about concerted and increasing attempts by the Pakistani government to muzzle the media," the group's Asia division chief, Brad Adams, said in the letter.
While some media carry critical comment, many reporters receive telephone calls from intelligence agents or unidentified persons pressuring them to avoid publishing stories that expose "government or, in particular, military misdeeds," Adams said.
Government officials were not immediately available for comment yesterday.
The letter criticized a move by Pakistan's media regulator this week against Aaj TV, a private channel covering weeks of protests against Musharraf's removal of the Supreme Court chief justice.
While officials say the judge was abusing his office, critics accuse the military president of trying to tame the judiciary ahead of possible legal challenges to his continued rule.
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