Pakistan Press Foundation

(PPF/IFEX) – Pakistan’s embassy in the United States (US) has written a letter to the State Department drawing attention to the investigation of Nayyar Zaidi, a Washington correspondent for the daily “Jang”, the flagship publication of Pakistan’s largest media group, by US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents. The letter, signed by the deputy chief […]

(PPF/IFEX) – The Pakistan government has decided to block distribution of an upcoming edition of the international magazine “Newsweek”, as it allegedly contains material “against Islam and the holy Quran”. According to press reports, the order was issued on 23 July 2003 by the federal minister for information and broadcasting, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad. Customs authorities […]

(PPF/IFEX) – In a landmark decision, the government has decided to allow media cross-ownership, enabling owners of newspapers and magazines to own and operate television and radio stations. The cabinet took the decision to amend the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Ordinance on 12 July 2003. Information and Broadcasting Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed said […]

(PPF/IFEX) – On 10 July 2003, the municipal government of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, imposed a number of restrictions on the media in light of ethnic and sectarian tensions caused by a recent bomb explosion that killed dozens of people at a Shiite mosque. The municipal government issued a notice prohibiting newspapers from […]

**Updates IFEX alerts of 9 July 2003, 12 March, 20, 2 and 1 February and 30 January 2001** (PPF/IFEX) – On 10 July 2003, Munawar Mohsin, sub-editor of the Peshawar-based “Frontier Post” newspaper, who was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 rupees (approx. US$860), filed an appeal in […]

(PPF/IFEX) – On 8 July, the Additional District and Sessions Judge Sardar Irshad convicted Munawar Mohsin, sub-editor of the Peshawar-based “Frontier Post”, of blasphemy and sentenced him to life imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 rupees (approx. US$860). The judge held Mohsin responsible for the newspaper’s publication of a blasphemous letter on 29 January 2001, […]

(PPF/IFEX) – On 30 June 2003, a large police contingent raided the offices of the monthly “Shahrag-e-Pakistan” in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province. The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Khalid Mehmood Shah, was detained in the publication’s office for nearly two days. According to Shah, about 70 policemen surrounded the magazine’s offices on the morning of 30 […]

(PPF/IFEX) – On 30 May 2003, telecommunication authorities in Pakistan blocked the website of the online newspaper “South Asia Tribune” (http://www.satribune.com). The website is currently inaccessible to Internet users in Pakistan. According to a press release issued by “South Asia Tribune”, the site has been blocked by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited’s (PTCL) Pakistan Internet […]