Journalists assaulted, harassed amid political transition in Pakistan
On April 11, 2022, Pakistan’s parliament elected Shehbaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and younger brother of former three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as the country’s new prime minister after ousting Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in a no-confidence vote, according to news reports. Since that political transition, journalists…
Journalist Absar Alam shot, wounded in Pakistan
Washington, D.C., April 20, 2021 — Pakistan authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the shooting of journalist Absar Alam and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Earlier today, an unidentified man shot Alam while he was walking near his home in Islamabad, according to news reports…
Pakistan court suspends regulator’s ban on BOL News broadcaster
On January 22, 2021, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, the country’s broadcast regulator, ordered BOL News, a privately owned news channel, to be suspended for 30 days and fined the outlet 1 million rupees (US$6,225), according to news reports and a statement by the regulator. On January 25, when courts reopened after the weekend,…
Proposed media regulator provokes strong criticism in Pakistan
Pakistani journalists are a fractious lot. The unions have split into competing factions. TV networks snap at each other on air. So it takes something really threatening to prompt journalists to come to a common point of view. That’s happened as the government’s latest plan to create a new media regulatory body has provoked a…