French journalists jailed in Pakistan
A Pakistani court today sentenced two French journalists to six months in prison for visa violations after they travelled to an area near the Afghan border without official permission.
The men, reporter Marc Epstein and photographer Jean-Paul Guilloteau, working for the French L’Express magazine, were also fined 100,000 rupees (€930) each.
Judge Nuzhat Ara Alvi ruled that the men had violated Pakistan’s immigration laws by travelling to the south-western city of Quetta without permission.
Police say the Frenchmen’s visas only allowed travel to Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
Pakistani officials have also said the men were involved in making a fake documentary showing Taliban rebels sneaking into Pakistan from Afghanistan – a sensitive issue in Pakistan – but they were not charged with any other offence.
Defence lawyer Nafees Sadiqui said the men would appeal against the verdict.
Both journalists were sent to jail in Karachi after the hearing.
The two were arrested on December 16 in Karachi, a southern port city, along with a Pakistani journalist Khawar Mehdi Rizvi, who was working with them and is still believed to be in custody.
