Posted on 06/02/2007 2:46:30 PM PDT by Sleeping Beauty
New York, June 1, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about reports that the Pakistani government will seek to restrict live television broadcasts of anti-government demonstrations.
The reports, from several local news outlets and sources, come as news outlets face increasing official pressure for covering the street demonstrations sparked by President Pervez Musharraf’s ouster of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. The judge is seeking reinstatement after being removed March 9 on allegations of misconduct. After a live national television broadcast of a Bar Association seminar on the issue, during which the audience chanted anti-army slogans, Musharraf and Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani both made critical remarks about the event and called for Pakistanis to respect the military.
On Thursday, Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani told a press conference that existing regulations covering live broadcasts will be strictly enforced. The Nation on Friday quoted Durrani as saying that private TV channels must seek prior permission to cover sensitive live events and that Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority rules prohibit the broadcast of programs “against the armed forces and judiciary.”
The Dawn daily, citing unnamed Information Ministry officials, reported Friday that the government “was planning to make it mandatory for televisions channels to seek prior permission for live coverage of outdoor events.” The newspaper said that “if applied strictly, the government may restrict all live coverage, particularly of events like opposition rallies or events relating to the judicial crisis.”
“Restricting live outside broadcasts is blatant censorship that undermines the government’s repeated claims of fostering a free press,” said Joel Simon, CPJ’s executive director. “Such censorship, coupled with the threats and violence directed toward journalists in recent months has put Pakistani media under tremendous pressure at a time when the country most needs a free and unfettered press.”
In a statement issued Friday, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) “deplored the government decision to impose a ban on live coverage by private TV channels in violation of Article 19 of the constitution.” The PFUJ said it will challenge the rulings in court.
In an April 24 letter, CPJ called on Musharraf to “to reverse the government’s recent anti-press actions and allow for greater public criticism of your administration in the media.” In May, CPJ named Pakistan one of the world’s worst backsliders on press freedom after documenting a series of anti-media incidents in 2007.
As in the case of Venezuela -- when a leader shuts down the news -- it's usually when he's about to get overthrown.
For the US, this is a serious problem. If Musharraf falls, Pakistan will surely fall into the hands of the Islamic extremists. And they will have all the WMD they need.
Actually, if Pakistan falls, I wonder if the US would be a safe place to live. What do you think?
Good grief. Why don’t you copy and paste that here? It’s yours, right?
UPDATE: Heard today that trials will be starting against those who dared to speak out against Musharraf.
Also that an American women (aid worker?) got roughed up by Musharraf's thugs ~ trying to get info on that.
All Musharraf All The Time
General Pervez Musharraf continues to fight a losing battle for his political survival. This afternoon thousands of Pakistanis in several cities across Pakistan took to the streets shouting "Go Musharraf Go" and "Musharraf The Dog" and burned effigies of Musharraf.
A defiant Musharraf's response was to threaten his adversaries with legal action for their "derogatory" remarks by declaring that the fiery speeches by the protesters against his rule was an "assault" on the legal system and "tantamount to humiliating the armed forces and judiciary".
Pervez Musharraf's only friend now seems to the United States who foolishly continue to support this whited sepulchre while he stabs us in the back. The Pakistanis have now turned on him and the man is not even safe in his own country.
But billions in aid with no accountability continue to flow, with the bulk of it going into Pakistan all courtesy of United States taxpayer. All Musharraf has to do is submit his invoices, if he can ever get that right. After being lectured recently by the US officials concerning their padded invoices submitted to the US embassy in Islamabad with "round figures" the Pakistanis are now submitting their invoices with more "specific figures". It's like saying, we know you are corrupt, but please don't make it look like you are corrupt.
Giving lip service to us while they continue to take our money and engage in an orgy of nuclear proliferation doesn't seem to be what a logical person would consider to be "our ally" in the war on terror either. Sadly though the naive George Tenet didn't seem to realize that it wasn't Musharraf calling the shots anyway. It's almost comical if you think about it. "Thank You George, I'll look into it." That right there should gave a hint to Tenet, but it didn't. He also could have chosen his words differently considering that the Pakistanis regard Dr. AQ Khan as a national hero for giving them the "holy bomb".
Pakistan doesn't need the United States to guarantee its security but Musharraf needs the United States to secure his dictatorship and our State Department seems to think that Pakistan's dictatorship can be a "path leading to democracy". Someone needs to explain to our State Department exactly how a dictatorship operates. There is nothing democratic about it. Even if Pakistan was democratic, the likelihood is that they would elect an Islamic government.
What happens when the United States loses Pakistan to a Pro-Taliban Islamic government and they start using weapons against US interests? Our sources tell us that portions of the military aid have in fact already in fact been diverted to the Islamic militants by Pakistan's intelligence agency.
The nightmare scenario only gets worse with the threat of Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the hands of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Perhaps by next year at the Cannes Film Festival Al Qaeda and the Taliban will finally be able to submit their own remake of the film "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" entitled "Beneath the Planet of the Taliban". I don't think I need to tell you how the film ends...
Links at
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.