Pakistan Press Foundation

(PPF/IFEX) – The following is the draft text of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, released fro comments by Pakistan’s federal minister of information and media development. Comments should be received no later than 28 September 2000: DRAFT OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ORDINANCE – 2000 AN ORDINANCE to provide for transparency and freedom of information. […]

(PPF/IFEX) – On Sunday 6 August 2000, the declaration, or publishing licence, of the “Daily Inquilab” was cancelled by the district magistrate of the city of Quetta, in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. According to press reports, the reason given for the cancellation of the declaration was the paper’s alleged 4 June publication of “false […]

(PPF/IFEX) – The following is a 24 June 2000 PPF press release: Family appeals for journalist’s release Peshawar: The family of Saeed Zaman Afridi, a correspondent of The News, has appealed to the military authorities to release him on humanitarian grounds. According to press reports, Mr. Afridi was arrested last week in Khyber Agency, after […]

(PPF/IFEX) – The following is a 24 June 2000 PPF press release: Cable networks go to court over closure Peshawar: The confusion over the closure of cable networks continued as eight cable networks filed a legal petition in the Peshawar High Court to overturn the sudden closure of the networks last week. The authorities had […]

**Updates IFEX alert of 22 June 2000** (PPF/IFEX) – The following is a PPF press release: Peshawar: On 22 June 2000, the spokesman for the NWFP provincial government issued a clarification that the governor’s statement banning cable television networks only meant that “illegal and unauthorised cable networks” would be closed down immediately. While addressing a […]

(PPF/IFEX) – The following is a PPF press release: PESHAWAR: On 21 June 2000, Lt General (retired) Muhammad Shafiq, governor of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan, announced a ban on cable television networks while addressing a meeting of religious leaders. “I order the closure of cable television networks in the province from […]

(PPF/IFEX) – During the evening of Thursday 18 May 2000, a violent mob, which was protesting the murder of leading Islamic scholar Maulana Yousuf Ludhianvi, attacked, ransacked and set fire to the offices of the Karachi business daily “Business Recorder”. Ludhianvi was killed by unknown gunmen near the Federal B Area of Karachi. The newspaper […]

(PPF/IFEX) – On Wednesday 26 April 2000, armed persons belonging to a political party ransacked the office of the evening daily “Sham” in Hyderabad, a city in Pakistan’s southern province. According to press reports, some 40 to 50 unidentified persons raided the newspaper office and destroyed three computers and a scanner. They also tried to […]