The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has appealed to President General Pervez Musharraf to give detained Pakistani journalist Khawar Mehdi Rizvi his right to due process in a court of law.
"He should be allowed to appear in court with an attorney to defend him against any charges that may have been made against him, or he should be released immediately," the CPJ said in a letter to President Musharraf.
"It is in Pakistan's interest to support a free and open press where journalists are able to report safely about important issues," said the letter.
The letter, received by local press, said: " Rizvi's continued detention sends the wrong message to Pakistan's journalists and to the international community."
"The CPJ is deeply concerned about the prolonged detention of freelance journalist Khawar Mehdi Rizvi," Ann K.Cooper, the CPJ executive director, said in his letter.
"We call on your government to confirm which agency is holding Rizvi, to make any charges against him public, or to release him immediately."
Rizvi was last seen on December 16, 2003, the same day that officers from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested reporter Marc Epstein and photographer Jean-Paul Guilloteau, both from the French weekly L'Express, at their hotel in Karachi.
The two French journalists were charged with visa violations under the Pakistan's Foreigners Act for travelling to the south-western city of Quetta without permission.
Although Epstein and Guilloteau only had visas to travel to Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, they went to Quetta in December 2003 with Rizvi, who was working as their guide, to research a story about Taleban activity along the Pakistani-Afghan border.
On January 10, Epstein and Guilloteau pleaded guilty to the visa violations and each received a six-month prison sentence.
On January 12, the two journalists' sentences were waived on appeal, and they were allowed to return to France.
Rizvi's family filed a motion of habeas corpus on December 30, 2003, at the Sindh High Court in an attempt to free him, but in court, FIA officials denied arresting or detaining the journalist.
During a second hearing on January 13, FIA Deputy Director Sarwar Khan again denied that Rizvi was in FIA custody.
At a hearing today (Thursday), after more denials, the court ordered the government to make Rizvi's whereabouts known within the next two days, according to local journalists.
In contrast with FIA officials, in an interview with The New York Times on January 11, Interior Ministry spokesman Abdur Rauf Chaudhry confirmed that security agencies were holding Rizvi and that he was being interrogated.
Chaudhry also said that Rizvi would only be allowed to appear in court "when it is essential" and refused to say which security agencies were interrogating Rizvi because it would be "premature".
Pakistani officials, accused Epstein, Guilloteau, and Rizvi of fabricating their material about the alleged Taleban activity in the Pakistani-Afghan border area.
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