Pak Journalist Barred From Leaving Country Over “False” Report
He has been put on the Exit Control List and the government rejected his article as a fabrication.
Cyril Almeida, a senior journalist with Pakistan's Dawn newspaper has been put on the Exit Control List, which means he will not be able to leave his country.
This follows an explosive story by Almeida, with the headline “Exclusive: Act against militants or face international isolation, civilians tell military”, on a meeting between the civilian government and the military leadership in Islamabad that laid bare the animosity between the two.
India was a major topic of discussion in that meeting. His story was denied by the government and armed forces.
After that report, he also wrote an editorial piece on the immediate future of the civil-military relation in Pakistan.
Almeida tweeted that he got to know that he was on the Exit Control List.
The newspaper, however, stood by their journalist and said that the story which the government rejected was verified and fact-checked.
There's also some amount of outrage in the liberal and journalist circle in Pakistan over this development and there is support for Almeida.
Many Pakistanis and journalists from around the world took to Twitter to defend Almeida and #StandWithCyril was soon trending.
(With inputs from Dawn)
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