ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) suspended on Friday the licence of Geo News for 15 days and fined it Rs10 million. The action was taken on a complaint filed by the Ministry of Defence.

However, the decision has drawn criticism from the regulatory body’s private members, who termed the 96th Pemra Authority meeting illegal and have threatened to go to court to challenge it.

An official press release said that the 96th Pemra Authority meeting was held on Friday in Islamabad at 9.45am. “The meeting was convened by the newly appointed Chairman Mohammad Parvez Rathore under Rule 3(4) of Pemra Rules 2009. Apart from other business, the complaint filed by Ministry of Defence against Geo News was deliberated upon in light of the legal opinion of the Ministry of Law,” it said.

“Strong notice was taken of violations committed by Geo News and (the meeting) unanimously decided to immediately suspend the licence of the said channel for a period of 15 days, besides imposing a fine of Rs10 million to be paid before the expiry of the suspension period,” the statement went on to say.

In case the fine is not paid, the suspension period may be extended.

The authority also decided that in case the licensee persisted in its violations, proceedings for the revocation of Geo News’ licence shall be initiated.

After the meeting, all Pemra field offices were directed to implement the decision and by around 2pm the channel was blocked by nearly all cable operators countrywide.

Private members

But Pemra’s private members continued to be a thorn in the government’s side. They denounced the decision and termed it “a move to bail out the channel”.

“This meeting was not convened in accordance with the law and I received an SMS at 10.36pm on Thursday night that an emergency meeting has been called at 9am on Friday,” said Fareeha Iftikhar, a private Pemra member from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “How can somebody come to Islamabad from Quetta or Sindh after receiving the SMS so late at night,” she asked.

She said the private members would take up the government’s conduct at a hearing in Islamabad High Court on Monday. She also said that the government had taken this step because they feared that the courts would validate the private members’ earlier meetings and would support their decisions.

“We had decided that the operating licences of all five channels of the Geo Network be suspended for an indefinite period and a case for terminating its licences be forwarded to the Council of Complaints (CoC),” she said, adding: “The CoC in Karachi has already recommended the termination of Geo Entertainment’s licence for disgracing Islamic values.”

Geo responds

Pemra’s decision came after a Geo legal notice that sought to claim $50 million in damages from the federal government, Pemra and the Inter-Services Intelligence for the group’s reputation and for physical damages incurred.

In a statement issued after the suspension of its licence, a spokesperson for Geo Network termed the move “a grave injustice” and said that “tens of thousands of its journalists and employees were receiving threats daily”.

The statement said that the decision to suspend Geo News was rushed through without even giving the channel a right to be heard.

According to the statement, the channel shut down its transmission in deference to the Pemra ruling at around 10pm on Friday.

Condemnation

The decision drew widespread condemnation from various quarters, but for completely different reasons.

While the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (Afzal Butt group) denounced the suspension of Geo’s licence and termed it “a poisonous move against freedom of the media”, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) maintained that the punishment was too lax and demanded that all Geo’s channels be shut down.

PTI Additional Secretary General Yusufullah Khan Niazi said: “This punishment is nothing and the government seems to be protecting the interest of the Jang group.”

Amnesty International

Reacting to the suspension of Geo News’ licence, global human rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI) declared the decision “an attack on press freedom”.

“(The move) is a politically motivated attack on freedom of expression and the media,” AI said in a statement issued from its London headquarters.

“(This) is the latest act in an organised campaign of harassment and intimidation targeting the network on account of its perceived bias against the military,” said Richard Bennett, AI’s Asia Director.

“Pakistani authorities must immediately reverse this ban. If there are concerns about the content of Geo TV broadcasts, the authorities should address this in line with international human rights standards – not simply move to silence a critical voice,” the statement said.

“Pakistan’s vibrant media scene deserves better protection, and journalists must be able to carry out their legitimate work without fear or interference,” Bennett said.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2014