ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) blocked Wikipedia services in Pakistan on Friday after their refusal to withdraw blasphemous content.

Earlier, the Authority had degraded its services in the country.

When this reporter contacted PTA spokesperson late on Friday night and inquired about blocking of Wikipedia, she confirmed that “yes” it had been blocked.

On the instruction of the high court, the PTA degraded — disrupting and slowing access to the encyclopedia — website for 48 hours because there was blasphemous content on it.

The PTA spokesperson stated that Wikipedia was approached for blocking/removal of the said content by issuing a notice under applicable law and court order(s).

An opportunity of hearing was also provided; however, the platform neither complied by removing the blasphemous content nor appeared before the Authority.

Given the intentional failure on part of the platform to comply with the directions of PTA, the services of Wikipedia were degraded for 48 hours with the direction to block/remove the reported contents.

In case of non-compliance by Wikipedia, the platform has been blocked within Pakistan.

The restoration of the services of Wikipedia will be reconsidered subject to blocking/removal of the reported unlawful contents.

PTA is committed to ensuring a safe online experience for all Pakistani citizens according to local laws.

Source: The News

The post PTA blocks Wikipedia over blasphemous content first appeared on Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF).

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday suspended the decision of the Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) to provide information about the employees of the Presidency to a citizen.

A single bench, comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, on the request of the federation, issued the stay order on the PIC decision and issued notices to the parties.

Chief of Information Commission Muhammad Azam and information commissioners Fawad Malik and Zahid Abdullah had issued orders on March 11, 2020. The PIC had directed the Presidency to provide information of all its employees under the Access to Information Act.

The federal appeal contended that the information commission in its order misinterpreted the Articles 90 and 99 of the Constitution relating to the Rules of Business. It said the Presidency was not a public body therefore, the Access to Information Act did not apply.

A citizen Mukhtar Ahmad Ali had filed a petition with the Presidency on April 10, 2019 under the Access to Information Act. A request was made to the principal secretary to the president to provide information regarding the employees of the Presidency.

However, on not receiving the information, the citizen filed a petition in the PIC, which decided that under the Access to Information Act, the Presidency should provide information on the number and salary of all employees, including women, special persons and transgender employees.

Newspaper: Tribune

درخواست جمع کرانے کی آخری تاریخ جمعہ،27فروری،2020

پاکستان پریس فاوٗنڈیشن (پی پی ایف)نے پاکستان میں میڈیا کی آزادی اور حفاظت   کے فیلو شپ پروگرام کے لیے درخواستیں وصول کرنے کا اعلان کردیا۔

اس فیلو شپ پروگرام کا مقصد آزادی اظہار رائے کو فروغ دینا اور میڈیا کارکنان کو مدد فراہم کرناہے تاکہ وہ میڈیا کی آزادی اور صحافیوں کے تحفظ سے متعلق مسائل پر رپورٹس تیار کرسکیں ۔

اس فیلوشپ پروگرام میں دو ورک شاپس منعقد کی جائیں گی اور اس کے ساتھ ادارتی اور تکنیکی تعاون بھی دیا جائے گا تاکہ میڈیا کارکنان کی حفاظت پر ،اخلاقی ، قانونی ور پیشہ ورانہ صحافت کے بہتر ین معیار  کے مطابق رپور ٹس تیار کی جائیں۔منتخب افراد میں سے ہر فرد کو فیلوشپ پروگرام کے دوران چھ رپورٹس تیار کرنا ہوں  گی۔ان افراد کو زیادہ ترجیح دی جائے گی جو صحافیوں کو قتل یا زخمی کیے جانے کے مخصوص واقعات پر تفتیشی رپورٹنگ کریں۔

منتخب افراد کو سینیئر صحافیوں کی معاونت میں رکھا جائے گا جو اس فیلو شپ پروگرام کی مدت تک ان افراد کے ایڈیٹر کے فرائض انجام دیں گے۔

صحافی جو پرنٹ،ٹیلی ویژن،ریڈیو یا آن لائن میڈیا میں کم سے کم تین سال کا تجربہ رکھتے ہیں وہ اس پروگرام کے لیے درخواست دے سکتےہیں۔خواتین صحافیوں کی درخواست جمع کروانے کی حوصلہ افزائی کی جائے گی۔

بلوچستان،فاٹا،گلگت بلتستان اور آزاد کشمیر سے تعلق رکھنے والے صحافیوں کے لیےاہلیت کی بنا پر شرائط میں نرمی رکھی جاسکتی ہے۔

اس فیلوشپ پروگرام کی مدت تین ماہ ہے اور اس پروگرام میں منتخب افراد کو ساٹھ ہزار روپے(60,000)ادا کیے جائیں گے۔

،درخواست گزار کے لیے درج ذیل کاغذات بھیجنا ضروری ہی

حالیہ تصویر کے ساتھ CV

 درخواست فارم

 پروپوزل فارم

تین لنکس /شائع کردہ یا نشر شدہ رپورٹس

پر بھیجیئے۔  fellowships@pakistanpressfoundation.org درخواست

درخواستیں جمع کروانے کی آخری تاریخ جمعہ 27فروری 2020ہے۔آخری تاریخ گزرنے کے بعد موصول ہونے والی درخواستوں پر عمل نہیں کیا جائے گا۔

پروپوزل فارم کے لیے کلک کریں

درخوست فارم کے لیے کلک کریں

English translation

Last date: Thursday, February 27, 2020

Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) has issued a call for applications for Fellowship program on
Media Safety and Impunity in Pakistan.

The fellowship program aims to promote freedom of expression by providing support to media professionals to produce stories related to issues on Media Safety and Impunity.

The fellowship programs will include two capacity building workshops as well as editorial and technical support to produce reports on safety of media practitioners that meet professional, ethical and legal best practices in journalism. Each selected fellow will have to produce up to six stories during this fellowship program. Preference will be given to fellows who will commit to investigating impunity for specific cases of journalists killed or injured.

Selected fellows will be paired with senior journalist who will act as fellowship editor during the period of fellowship program.

Journalists having minimum experience of three years working for print, television, radio and online media can apply for the fellowship program.

The criteria for journalists from Baluchistan, FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir may be relaxed for otherwise qualified applicants. Female journalists are encouraged to apply.

The duration of the fellowship is three months and the amount for the fellowship is sixty thousand rupees.

Applicants must send:

• Professional resume/CV with recent photograph
• Story proposal form for stories (for story proposal form click here)
• Application form (For application form click here)
• Three links/samples of published or broadcast pieces.
• Applications should be sent to fellowships@pakistanpressfoundation.org

The deadline for submitting applications is Thursday, February 27, 2020. Applications received after the due date will not be entertained.

Urdu translation

“Police officials [too], as public servants, are not allowed to hold [press] conferences and yet they do so,” he said, adding that the laws restricting the public servants were not devised by the Pakistan Peoples Party.

He expressed these views while addressing a seminar titled ‘Strengthening Transparency and Right to Information Law in Sindh’, organised by the Sustainable Development Organisation on Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion, Wahab said that he had attended a seminar in 2016, following which he decided to work towards shaping a law pertaining to the right to information and today, the law exists. The adviser further said, “Law-making is not an issue and we have many laws but we don’t have [any] knowledge about them.”

Wahab said that information about all the laws is available on the official website of the Sindh Assembly and details of legislations since 1947 are available on the website of the law department. In addition, a mobile application has also been launched to provide the public access to information about citizens’ rights, he said. Wahab also recommended that all provincial departments work towards establishing their websites, having all necessary information about the departments, so as to provide easy access to information to the public.

Echoing Wahab’s views, Sindh Assembly MPA Nusrat Sehar Abbasi said, “The Sindh Assembly has made [some] very good laws but the people of Sindh are not aware of them.” She pointed out that laws were not being fully implemented.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA Haleem Adil Sheikh said that the implementation of laws was pivotal. He said that transparency could be ensured if laws were implemented at all levels. The MPA also criticised the provincial government, saying it had failed to deliver properly.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan MPA Khuwaja Izharul Hassan said that the law pertaining to the right of information was of immense importance.

Hassan further said, “Bureaucracy is an institution and the government should keep an eye on it,” adding that “no bureaucrat has the right to arrange a party in his honour.” Moreover, a civil servant cannot be invited as the chief guest on any occasion, said the lawmaker.

The Express Tribune

Last date for receiving applications:   Sunday January 5, 2020

Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) invites applications for the 7th batch of PPF Investigative Reporting Fellowships.

The fellowships facilitate Pakistani journalists to produce investigative report that meet the professional, ethical and legal standards. PPF will provide support to journalists, to professionally investigate and report on issues relating to human rights, transparency, environment, inequity, governance and corruption.

The fellowships will include capacity building workshops as well as editorial and technical support.   Selected participants will work under the supervision of a senior journalist who will act as fellowship editor. Each fellow will be expected to produce up to six stories during this fellowship program.

Journalists with a minimum experience of three years working for print, television, radio and online media can apply for the fellowships.

The criteria for journalists from Baluchistan, FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir may be relaxed for otherwise qualified applicants. Female journalists are encouraged to apply.

The duration of the fellowship is three months and the amount for the fellowship is sixty thousand rupees.

Completed application forms, in either English or Urdu, containing the following must be received by Sunday January 5, 2020 to be considered for the award of the fellowships.

• Fellowship application form
• Professional resume/CV
• Stories proposal form
• Links or clippings of at least three articles that were published or aired in the last three years.

Applications should be sent to fellowships@pakistanpressfoundation.org

For forms, click the link below;

Application form:

https://www.pakistanpressfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/PPF-Investigative-Reporting-Fellowship-Application-Form.docx

Story proposal form;

https://www.pakistanpressfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/PPF-Investigative-Reporting-Fellowship-Story-Proposal-Form.docx

On July 19th at the 2019 UN High-Level Segment held at the United Nations HQ, GFMD, represented by Owais Aslam, Secretary General of Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) and member of the GFMD Steering Committee, delivered an oral statement.

In this statement, our network called for the strengthening of pluralistic and independent media and journalism on the road to achieving all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda. In this sense, the proper implementation of public access to information laws and the safety of journalists are prerequisite to achieving progress towards the SDGs.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Society (PESS) has supported the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority’s (Pemra) decision to impose restrictions on TV channels over inviting retired military officers to their talk shows and other programmes as defence analysts.

A statement issued by the PESS on Sunday said that the society distanced itself from a decision taken by the Ex-Servicemen Legal Forum to challenge in court the Pemra’s directives that retired officers take permission from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) before appearing on television.

Retired Lt Col Inamur Rahim Khawaja, convener of the Ex-Servicemen Legal Forum, told Dawn on Saturday that his group had decided to challenge the Pemra notification in the Islamabad High Court.

The PESS reiterated that the ISPR director general was the only voice of the armed forces. The decision was in national interest and the PESS stood behind it wholeheartedly, it added. According to the society, it has three million members.

The PESS disassociated itself from any ex-servicemen forum which did not agree with this decision. “Such forums/groups only wish to serve their own vested interest and that of their paymasters,” the statement said.

In a notification issued on Thursday, Pemra instructed all TV channels to seek prior clearance from the ISPR before inviting retired military officers on news and current affairs programmes “to solicit their views on matters of national security”.

The notification stated: “It has seriously been observed by the concerned quarters that retired military officers are frequently being invited in different news and current affairs programmes / talk shows as defence analysts to solicit their views / opinions on matters of national security and related affairs. Such invitees are usually not fully conversant with latest defence and security related developments due to their service background and post retirement time. Moreover, the discussion mostly switches from security-related matters to politics which inadvertently embroils military officers into political debate which is felt undesirable.”

The Forum is an association of retired army officers-turned-lawyers.

Mr Khawaja said that there were five associations and forums of retired officers and soldiers of the country’s armed forces and his Forum was one of them.

Dawn

ISLAMABAD-  The Supreme Court has observed that the right of freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution is not absolute.

The top court has further observed that the said right cannot be stretched to cover a speech, comment or publication which may tend to influence, impede, embarrass or obstruct the administration of justice, scandalises the Court and brings the judges of this Court into hatred, ridicule or contempt.

The top court has reiterated its consistent view that the real object of initiating contempt proceedings is not to afford protection to the judges from imputation to which they might be exposed personally as individuals or to satisfy the ego of a judge by punishing such person, instead, it is to maintain and strengthen the confidence of the public in general and the litigants in the court and to vindicate the honour and dignity of the Court to ensure that the administration of justice is not diminished or weakened.

Issuing a 14-page judgment, the top court further observed that it is also true that courts in the matter of contempt tend to show grace and magnanimity towards the alleged contemnor in cases where the contemnor without justifying his action/statement shows his repentance.

“However, this is not a rule of thumb and cannot be applied to every case as an apology tendered does not automatically purge the contemnor of the contempt and may not necessarily be accepted unless the court from the surrounding circumstances is satisfied about the bona fide of the contemnor,” it added.

The judgment authored by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah on the Intra-Court Appeal, filed by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) firebrand Talal Ahmed Chaudhry against his conviction in Contempt of Court, noted that the offending speech was made by him announcement of Panama Case verdict, which disqualified Nawaz Sharif for lifetime.

The judgment observed that some of the members of the then ruling party (PML-N), in order to show their allegiance with Sharif, started a campaign of maligning the Office of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Judges of this Court in public gatherings and on electronic media.

“The appellant being one such firebrand speaker has deliberately and intentionally in the stated background, through the stated utterances, attacked the integrity and independence of the judiciary to please and support his leader with the sole intent to ridicule and lower the respect and to shake the confidence of people at large from the safe administration of justice,” it added.

It maintained: “The tenor and content of the speech of the appellant clearly shows that it was designed and worded to scandalize the Court and to bring the judges of this Court into hatred, ridicule or contempt.”

The top court observed that the utterance made by Chaudhry can by no stretch of imagination be termed as bona-fide.

“In the instant case the appellant (Chaudhry) throughout has been trying to justify his offending statement by taking different pleas and even the apology so tendered was in case his justification with regard to the offending statement was not accepted.”

“Unfortunately we see neither genuine remorse nor sincerity on the apology which in the instant case is being used by the Appellant to get out of a difficult situation that he finds himself in for having used intemperate and contemptuous language against the highest Court of the country and the Judges.”

The top court while dismissing the ICA took the view that the contempt committed by Chaudhry is so grave that the apology is not sufficient to purge the contempt.

“The appellant in fact has crossed the boundary of decency and morality by a calculated move with an aim to obstruct and diminish the administration of justice and, therefore, he cannot be allowed to escape the consequences by pleading freedom of speech and expression.”

The top court further observed that Chaudhry tried to explain away and justify his actions and has tendered an apology only as a matter of abundant caution and as a fall back. “Such an apology cannot be accepted.  The appellant has failed miserably in discharging that burden.”  A five-judge bench headed by former Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had heard the ICA of Chaudhry.

The top court in August last year had convicted Chaudhry in a contempt of court case and sentenced him till rising of the court with the imposition of a fine of Rs. 100,000.

Consequently Chaudhry, due to conviction, had also been disqualified under Article 63(1)(g) of the Constitution  to contest any election for next five years for becoming a public office holder.

The Nation

Related Stories

The Express Tribune: Freedom of speech ‘can’t be stretched to cover contempt’

The Express Tribune: ‘RTI law helped improve governance quality in K-P’

Dawn: ‘Era of hiding information from people is gone’

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday endorsed Pemra’s (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) 2016 decision of restricting electronic media in Pakistan from broadcasting Indian content.

A three-judge SC bench consisting of Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan granted leave to an appeal moved by Pemra and suspended the July 18, 2017 order of the Lahore High Court (LHC).

The court, however, postponed further proceedings to consider whether the regulator had the authority to restrict airing of any foreign content and does such prohibition fall within the purview of Article 19 of the Constitution which ensures freedom of expression. The next date of hearing in the case will be decided later.

Pemra on Oct 19, 2016 imposed a blanket ban on all Indian content after relations between Pakistan and India soured against the backdrop of the Uri attack a month earlier. But the LHC on July 18, 2017 lifted the Pemra ban by declaring it null and void. Pemra had filed a petition in the apex court, challenging the LHC’s order.

Senior counsel Mudassar Khalid Abbasi, who represented Pemra, pleaded before the apex court that the 2006 permission of telecasting Indian content by different electronic media channels in Pakistan was conditional and subject to reciprocity on the part of Indian channels. He pleaded before the court to set aside the LHC order.

During the hearing Justice Ahsan wondered whether the high court had the domain to intervene in the affairs of Pemra. The apex court also observed that under Section 19 and 30(2) of the Pemra ordinance, the regulator had the authority to block any content if it considered it against the public interest and even alter the terms and conditions of a channel’s licence at any stage.

Tracing the history of the matter, the Pemra petition recalled how in January 2006 the then prime minister in a meeting authorised the regulator to draft a policy that Pakistani television channels can show small percentage of Indian content.

Subsequently, Pemra in its 36th meeting of February 2006 allowed 10 per cent foreign content to private channels of which 40pc (4pc overall) may be English content and the rest 60pc (6pc overall) may be Indian or other content.

Later in line with its decision of the 120th meeting of Oct 9, 2016, the regulator withdrew the 6pc Indian content, adding in future Indian content would not be allowed to broadcast or distributed in Pakistan except on the basis of matching reciprocity by India.

The petition explained that Messers Leo Communication (Pvt) Ltd (Filmazia) had instituted a petition before the LHC on March 2, 2017, seeking a declaration that Pemra’s Oct 19, 2016 circular was against its Ordinance of 2002 and, therefore, should be held illegal, without lawful authority and of no legal effect.

The LHC, however, set aside the Oct 19, 2016 circular by declaring it as unconstitutional and illegal.

The petition questioned could a single judge was justified in setting aside the regulator’s circular in exercise of the extraordinary constitutional jurisdiction and permitting broadcast of Indian content by broadcast media licensees while interpreting the relevant provisions of the constitution, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002, Pemra Rules, 2009, Pemra Electronic Media (Programmes and Advertisements) Code of Conduct, 2015, Pemra (Television Broadcast Station Operations) Regulations, 2012 etc.

The petition asked was the high court declaration an academic exercise in wrongly and ornamentally interpreting public interest. Was the high court wrongly interpreted the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, flaccidly pleaded in terms of merely mentioning Article 19 in only one of the grounds when the main thrust of the petitioner before the high court was on its right to business of the foreign content.

The regulator also asked whether the high court wrongly held channel’s ‘right to choose a programming mix and broadcast 6pc Indian content under the licence agreement was premised on the fundamental right to free speech and expression.

Whether the high court order subsumed Indian content within the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, thus, indirectly holding that denial thereof placed a clog on every citizen’s right to freedom of speech and expression vis-a-vis Indian content, the Pemra petition argued.

Whether not the high court while interpreting the legislative scheme, including the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, wrongly enlarged its scope, in effect embedding Indian content within its’ otherwise judicially evolved by degrees multidimensional categories of free speech.

And whether the high court’s judgement under question, perhaps indirectly placed Indian content upon a higher pedestal within the categories of free speech and expression, when, in fact, the same may, at best, be given the status of commercial speech or expression, if that, since admittedly the broadcast media licensees are only concerned with economic considerations of profit and loss, the petition said.

Dawn

Related Stories

The News: Airing of Indian content: SC sets aside LHC verdict

The Express Tribune: SC bars channels from airing Indian content

The Nation: SC bans Indian content on Pak TV channels

Business Recorder: TV channels: SC reinstates ban on transmission of Indian contents