DECLAN WALSH, (a journalist) EXPELLED FROM PAKISTAN

Two days before Pakistan went to the polls, Walsh was summoned to his residence, in Islamabad, where policemen and a plainclothes officer waited for him. The plainclothes officer gave him a letter, according to the Times, which ordered Walsh to leave the country within seventy-two hours, “in view of your undesirable activities.” The Times editors spoke to the Pakistani authorities, but the authorities did not budge. Walsh had to pack up and leave his story, his friends, his life of a decade. A lesser man might have been flustered and shattered, but Walsh used his remaining time to cover the election from Lahore—thus doing every reporter proud. His friends spent the night helping his partner pack their house. On Sunday morning, plainclothes intelligence officers accompanied him to the airport, making sure he flew out of Pakistan. Before his departure from the country, Walsh posted on Twitter, “72 hours, wheels up. To all friends, especially in Pakistan, who offered overwhelming support in recent days, thank you so much.” http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/05/declan-walsh-expelled-from-pakistan.html