Freedom of Expression – Page 236 – Pakistan Coalition on Media Safety

September 26, 2018

APNS sees govt ‘ad body’ as attack on press freedom, devolution of power

ISLAMABAD: The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) has expressed its grave concern over the government’s decision to form a “content committee” for prior approval of all advertisements to be released to media.

In a statement, the APNS has “deplored” that Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry has formed the committee “headed by himself” to monitor and approve “release of advertisements by the provincial and federal governments”.

“The APNS considers this as a surgical strike which would perish the independence and viability of media and would be used as a lever to curb press freedom in the country,” says the statement. “The action is contrary to the assurances of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government for not only upholding press freedoms but also on devolution of power to provincial and district level.”

The APNS regrets that through this action, the federal government has initiated “a policy to control print and electronic media” through over centralisation of advertisements which is the backbone of the media’s economy.

“The APNS believes that this is actually an encroachment on the powers vested in the provinces under the constitution,” it says, adding that the APNS has questioned the intention of the federal government as to whether it actually believes in devolution of power or not.

“The APNS is of the considered view that only a financially and vibrant media can perform the role of a free and objective watchdog of the interests of the people and safeguard democratic norms in the country,” it says.

It says that ever since the induction of the PTI government, the quantum of the advertisements released by the federal and provincial governments has drastically declined, causing acute financial crunch and dent to the economy of newspapers, particularly the regional and smaller press.

Dawn

Business Recorder: APNS voices concern over formation of ‘content committee’

September 26, 2018

APNS sees govt ‘ad body’ as attack on press freedom, devolution of power

Dawn

Business Recorder: APNS voices concern over formation of ‘content committee’

September 25, 2018

LHC issues warrants for Almeida, orders govt to put him on ECL

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Dawn Assistant Editor Cyril Almeida on Monday and ordered the authorities concerned to put his name on the Exit Control List (ECL) for not attending the proceedings in a petition seeking action against PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on treason charges.

As a three-judge bench, headed by Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, resumed hearing, Mr Abbasi made his appearance along with his counsel Naseer Ahmad Bhutta. Justice Atir Mahmood and Justice Chaudhry Masood Jahangir are other members of the bench.

The petition, filed by civil society activist Amina Malik, had sought registration of treason cases against former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

About the non-appearance of Mr Sharif, advocate Bhutta informed the bench that since the former prime minister was busy receiving condolences over the death of his wife, he was unable to attend the hearing. However, the lawyer undertook that Mr Sharif will appear before the court at the next hearing.

Asked about Mr Almeida, advocate Ahmad Rauf told the bench that he had instructions to appear on behalf of the journalist since his client was in Karachi.

Justice Naqvi asked the counsel whether he could give an assurance to the court that his client would appear in court on the next date of hearing. Mr Rauf replied he was not in a position to do so. However, he said he would withdraw his power of attorney if his client failed to appear on the next date.

The judge observed that despite issuance of three notices to the respondent journalist, he had failed to comply with the order of the court.

“In this view of the matter we are left with no option except to issue non-bailable warrants of arrest against Cyril Almeida,” reads a written order of the bench.

It directed the Lahore DIG operations to execute warrants on Cyril Almeida and produce him before the court on the next date of hearing. “Keeping in view the past conduct of the respondent, we have been persuaded to direct that his name shall be placed in Exit Control List forthwith,” the bench said. It directed a deputy attorney general to establish contact with the quarters concerned for the needful. The bench adjourned the hearing to Oct 8 and directed all the respondents in the case to file their written replies before the next hearing.

Meanwhile, the bench asked advocate Azhar Siddique, the petitioner’s counsel, to file a fresh petition when he accused former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal of committing contempt once again by using contemptuous language against courts.

Previously, the bench had discharged contempt proceedings against Mr Ahsan following his unconditional apology.

Amina Malik had based her petition on an interview given by Mr Sharif to Dawn on May 11 this year in which he had said the “attacks in Mumbai (in 2008) were carried out by people from Pakistan”.

After the publication of the interview, the National Security Council held a meeting to deliberate on the matter. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was prime minister at the time, called upon Mr Sharif to take him into confidence about the deliberations.

According to the petitioner, Mr Abbasi’s action amounted to sedition as he had violated his oath of office.

Editor’s note

The notice served on Cyril Almeida was delivered at Dawn’s Islamabad bureau in the middle of last week, and journalists and officials at the bureau say the earlier two notices were never delivered. Mr Almeida, like all Dawn staffers, is a law abiding citizen, and sincerely believes in the rule of law. He is a seasoned journalist and has never shied away from such matters.

Back in 2016 he had rushed back from his assignment of covering the US presidential elections only to appear before a high-level inquiry tribunal set up by the government to probe a story published by Dawn. There is absolutely no question of him not being present at the next hearing on October 8, as desired by the honourable court. He will certainly be there.

Mr Almeida has no immediate plans to travel abroad, and will attend the proceedings of the case whenever desired by the honourable court. Therefore, the honourable bench of the LHC may like to withdraw the non-bailable warrants of arrest, and the instructions given to put his name on the ECL.

Dawn

The Express Tribune: LHC issues Cyril Almeida’s non-bailable arrest warrant

The Nation: Nawaz Sharif summoned in treason case

Business Recorder: LHC issues non-bailable arrest warrants for Cyril Almeida

September 23, 2018

PPF denounces assault on NewsOne channel correspondent in Ukraine

Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), in a letter to Petro Poroshenko, President of Ukraine has expressed concern over the assault on a female journalist, Daryna Bilera, correspondent of NewsOne TV channel.

PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali has, in his letter, urged the government of Ukraine to take immediate action against those responsible for assaulting and offending a female journalist who was doing her duty.

According to the Institute of Mass Information, Daryna was covering clashes between members of nationalist movements and the police near the General Prosecutor’s Office in Kyiv, Ukraine on September 17.

While the journalist was covering the event, a man, later identified to be associated with World Brovary Television, approached her and appeared to harass her and also threw something at her.

Daryna continued to do her work and then a woman approached her and tried to take her microphone, while yet another woman tried to punch her. This is when the journalist was forced to stop her coverage and she later disclosed that the man had thrown eggs and rice at her.

Daryna also filed a complaint about the attack with the local police.

A large number of protestors had gathered near the General Prosecutor’s Office on September 17, protesting the deportation of ethnic Ingush, Timur Tumgoev, a Russian citizen to Russia. Tumgoev had fought for Ukraine in Donbas.

The protestors were demanding the resignation of the General Prosecutor of Ukraine for this deportation. Members of Ukrainian nationalist organizations Svoboda, Natoinal Corps, С14, and Right Sector attended the protest.

September 23, 2018

PPF urged Bulgarian authorities to stop targeting journalists

Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) in a letter to Rumen Radev, President of Bulgaria has expressed concern over the arrest of two journalists for investigating a scam in EU-funded projects in Bulgaria and Romania.

PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali in his letter, has urged the authorities and security forces to stop targeting journalists for their work.

According to International Press Institute (IPI), Dimitar Stoyanov, a reporter for Bivol (an investigative journalism website in Bulgaria) and Attila Biro of the RISE Project (a non-profit journalism organization in Romania) were detained by authorities in Radomir for several hours. They were held for attempting to prevent and document the destruction of evidence related to the inquiry funded by IPI’s #IJ4EU grant programme.

Bivol released a report on September 10, which spoke about “large-scale and wide-spread corruption” in EU-funded projects in Bulgaria worth hundreds of millions of Bulgarian leva. The report was based on the contents of accounting documents from “a network of consultancy firms linked to large construction companies.”

The editor-in-chief of Bivol, Atanas Tchobanov, told IPI that they received a tip-off that the GP Group, one of the organizations mentioned in the report, was removing equipment and documents from its headquarters in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital. Tchobanov said that they also informed the authorities but nothing was done.

On September 13, Bivol was informed that the destroyed material had been found near Radomir. They again informed the authorities and then the journalists Stoyanov and Biro reached the spot where they found the destroyed documents and other evidence.

The local police than arrived on the spot and detained Stoyanov and Biro. The two showed their press cards but the police refused to release them. Police also seized their cell phones without giving them a chance to inform their colleagues. The journalists were released in the early hours of September 14. The head of Bulgaria’s anti-mafia police later apologized for the incident.

September 21, 2018

Mediamen stage protest against police

DERA GHAZI KHAN – A large number of journalists gathered outside DG Khan Regional Police Office on Thursday against police attack on Sher Afgan Buzdar, a reporter of BOL TV, the other night during media coverage at Basti Leghari in Gaddai police precincts. Journalists chanted slogans against DSP City Circle Mr Jawad as well as the police administration. They demanded that the police high-ups take immediate notice of the DSP’s highhandedness.

Talking to media they said, “Attacks on journalists in the line of duty have become a routine which is condemnable. We demand strict action against the police officers involved in assaulting media persons.” DG Khan Press Club president Mudassir Lashari while addressing the protesting journalists demanded: “Cases of manhandling journalists in the past should be reopened and investigated, and action must be taken against the policemen involved.” The protestors were carrying placards and banners. They had started their rally from Bombay Chowk, and culminated in the form of a sit-in outside RPO office.

As per details, a Gaddai police team under the supervision of DSP City Mr Jawad tried to arrest a man at Basti Leghari without issuing him arrest warrants. But residents of the Basti resisted the police attempt in which a policeman namely Sajjad became injured. The police tried to conceal the incident but journalist Sher Afgan Buzdar, a reporter of BOL TV, shot video of the incident through a mobile phone.

DSP City Mr Jawad arrested and assaulted the journalist on the spot and put him in the police van. He forcibly deleted all videos of the incident from his mobile phone. After intervention of District Police Officer Imran Yaqoob, the journalist was released by the DSP. During the protest, a high level meeting was held in the commissioner office. DPO Imran Yaqoob came out of the commissioner office and negotiated with the protesters. On assurance of investigation against DSP City Mr Jawad, protesters ended their protest.

The Nation

September 20, 2018

‘Media is free today’

LAHORE: Paying glowing tributes to the journalist community, particularly those associated with print media, for playing a key role in guiding the other institutions of the state, Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi has said media is free in Pakistan today.

“From the freedom movement till today, media, particularly the newspapers, has played a key role in combating the national challenges. Media not only showed path of reformation to the rulers but also created awareness among the people about their rights,” Elahi said on Wednesday

The Punjab Assembly speaker was speaking at a dinner hosted in honour of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE). The dinner was attended by renowned journalists and CPNE office-bearers including Arif Nizami, Zia Shahid, Imtenan Shahid, Ayaz Khan, Rehmat Ali Raazi, Ejazul Haq and Kazim Khan.

Irshad Ahmad Arif, Tanvir Shaukat, Yousuf Nizami, Babar Nizami, Zulfiqar Ahmad Rahat, Ahmad Shafiq, Ali Ahmad Dhillon, Intezar Hussain Zanjani, Muazzam Fakhar, Ovais Rauf, Abid Alim, Aslam Mian, Malik Liaquat Ali, Bashir Ahmad, Naushad Roy, Bashir Ahmad Khan, Zubair Mahmud, Waqas Tariq Farooq, Akmal Chohan, Imtiaz Roohani, Arshad Rehani and M A Rauf also attended the function.

Elahi said media is the fourth pillar of the state and guarantor of the progress of the country. It also plays the role of a bridge between the people and those in power. “We are doing politics for a long time and enjoy deep relationship with journalists,” he added.

He said many organisations are working for promotion of journalism but the CPNE is the only representative body which includes prominent and senior journalists of the country who have always rendered best services through their professional journalism.

Elahi said he believed that media of Pakistan particularly print media is playing a highly responsible role by highlighting the need for reformation. “We have seen difficult times and we are also aware about struggle of the journalists. Journalism is very important for the progress of the country. Today media of Pakistan is free and the CPNE has an important role in ensuring this freedom,” he added.

The Punjab Assembly speaker said journalists of Pakistan are brave and patriotic who have given a befitting response to the enemies of the country. In the war on terror also the newspapers have done responsible journalism, he added.

“Because of the media, the stance of the government and the armed forces was appreciated by the people. In this regard also, the CPNE remained at the forefront.

“I salute the long struggle and efforts of the CPNE and assure its members that we will work shoulder to shoulder with them for freedom of the press and well-being of journalists,” he added.

Lambasting policies of the previous government, the speaker said it was because of wrong policies of former finance minister Ishaq Dar and premier Nawaz Sharif that the country is in difficulties now.

He said the media should guide the government in right direction. If the rulers’ intention is good then the country does progress. Prime Minister Imran Khan is working with a good intention and true spirit and the entire nation should support him. Imran Khan will fulfill all promises he made, he added.

CPNE President Arif Nizami and Zia Shahid also spoke on the occasion.

The Express Tribune

Dawn: CPNE team meets CM