The five bloggers and activists that were abducted (and later released) at the beginning of 2017 will end the year with at least the vindication that an FIA investigation into their activities yielded no evidence that they were involved in any way with the charge of blasphemy. Since December 2, a young activist named Raza […]
Pakistan: Hassan Farhan Tariq, crime reporter, in the Peshawar Bureau of Dawn News television channel has been receiving threatening calls from unknown numbers since December 13, 2017. Callers told him that some of his news stories were against the national interest. Tariq was warned by the caller if he will not stop such reporting, he […]
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has given the federal government a week to implement its order in a case related to the uploading of sacrilegious content on social media. IHC Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui warned on Friday that in case of non-compliance, the prime minister and other cabinet ministers could be summoned at the […]
LAHORE: Justice Ayesha A. Malik of the Lahore High Court again issued notices Tuesday on a petition seeking action against Pemra Chairman Absar Alam for suspending transmission of all private news channels unlawfully during a police operation against participants of Islamabad sit-in. The judge earlier had sought replies from the federal government and Pemra on […]
IN the interest of justice, there are times when restraint is prudent and desirable. The Supreme Court bench hearing the Hudaibya Paper Mills reference has quite reasonably barred TV talk shows from discussing the case and ordered Pemra to ensure that its directives are implemented. Pemra in turn has issued instructions to television channels to […]
Supreme Court Monday asked media for factual reporting on the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case. It issued directives to Pemra to ensure that no broadcast is allowed to discuss merits and demerits of the case in talk shows. A three-member bench led by Justice Mushir Alam passed the order while hearing an appeal of National Accountability […]
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) is worried by the rapidly eroding space for freedom of expression in the country. HRCP arranged a panel discussion titled, “Why is our freedom of expression being curbed?”. HRCP chairperson Dr. Mehdi Hassan said that Article 19 of the constitution of Pakistan even provides freedom to express but with six conditions. “This is the role of political parties to work so everyone especially journalists could […]
