Panamagate: government side begins to show signs of frustration

Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication (IT&T) Anusha Rehman on Wednesday allegedly snatched cell phone of a journalist in the Supreme Court premises, resulting in anger among the journalists who did not let the PML-N leaders speak outside the court.
A dramatic scene was witnessed outside the Supreme Court when journalists started protesting against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Anusha Rahman for allegedly snatching mobile phone of a journalist working for a private TV channel. They chanted slogans against the minister and demanded her to tender an apology. The journalist stated that the minister harassed and threatened him. Quoting the IT minister, he said "You can be sent behind bars for 14 years for this violation as per the Cyber Crime Law."
The protesting journalists refused to let Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique address the media, shouting him down despite his repeated attempts to speak. Amid journalists' sloganeering, Saad Rafique said that Anusha Rehman was briefing him about the court's proceedings when this journalist started making video upon which she snatched the mobile phone of the reporter and informed him that bringing cell phone inside Supreme Court (SC) is banned. "I intervened and asked the reporter and minister to go to a side and delete the video clip."
The railways minister said freedom of expression should be respected and urged journalists to ask questions directly from Anusha Rehman as she was relevant to answer about the incident, but he said that the incident was inappropriate. Minister for CADD, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry was also present on this occasion.
The journalists also got their protest registered when State Minister for information Maryam Aurangzeb reached the spot and tried to speak. She urged the journalists to end their protest suggesting that the matter could be solved through table talk. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Chief Siraj-ul-Haq condemned the incident and expressed his sympathies with journalists and assured them of his full support. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Javed also condemned the incident, saying the government is worried about the decision in the Panamagate case and has become panic.