Following is the text of his statement:

Afzal Khan has alleged that I had tried to blackmail him for one or two million dollars. I categorically deny this. Afzal Khan had praised Geo and me personally several times for airing our free campaign “Pakistan Ko Vote do!” on the Geo Network and in the Jang Group. The Group had the largest campaign to raise awareness and interest in voting and democracy, worth over 15 crores. We did not receive or ask for any funds from anyone for any election-related campaign of the ECP.

This includes a campaign of the ECP regarding its special SMS service that was again aired for free. Afzal Khan had also said he has saved millions of rupees in election spending and insinuated he did so by promoting the elections-related campaigns of the ECP without spending any money. An independent audit of the ECP and all media companies will show that the Jang Group has contributed the most free ads to the cause of free and fair elections and voter participation in Elections 2013.

The Election Commission has also given an appreciation certificate to Geo for its contribution in helping the election commission promote its campaigns. Afzal Khan has clearly and multiple times in live interviews said that he has no evidence against any allegations he is making against anyone. I am prepared to testify in a court of law under oath to refute the allegations Afzal Khan has made against me and Geo and reserve the right to pursue legal actions. The blackmail allegation seems to have no connection with his overall allegations against rigging that he has made against several people. It is curious to note why, then, he is raising Geo’s name? This allegation suggests Afzal Khan is part of the ongoing campaign against Geo and the Jang Group to discredit and weaken the largest, most popular and oldest media group of Pakistan.

The News

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the Pemra’s decision and termed it politically motivated and against the commitments made to it by the Nawaz government. “We are troubled by the decision by Pakistan’s regulator to suspend the Geo News’ licence,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.

“The move to shut down one of Pakistan’s largest media outlets is short-sighted and politically motivated and runs counter to the spirit of commitments Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made to the CPJ,” the CJO statement said.

A CPJ delegation met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in April and secured commitments to combat risks to journalists in Pakistan. Other US-based news organisations also expressed their shock and decried the Pemra decision.

Reporters Without Borders condemned Friday’s decision by the Pemra to suspend all broadcasting by the Geo News for 15 days.

The decision was taken in response to a Defence Ministry’s complaint to Pemra, accusing Geo News of waging a “vicious campaign, libelous and scandalous in nature” after its star talk show presenter Hamid Mir was badly injured in a targeted shooting on 19th April.

“Suspending a TV station’s licence is a grave violation of freedom of information especially when it is the country’s leading news channel,” Reporters Without Borders said.

The suspension follows a major smear campaign against Geo News that began after it broadcast claims that the intelligence agencies were behind the attack on Mir. Both the defence ministry and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) responded by accusing the Geo News of being “anti-state.”

On 20th May, several Pemra members ordered the closure of Geo News and two of its sister channels, Geo Tez and Geo Entertainment, and the withdrawal of their licences, but they were immediately overruled by other Pemra members.

Amnesty International said the Pakistan government’s suspension of Geo TV, the country’s largest private broadcaster, was a politically motivated attack on the freedom of expression and the media.

“The suspension of Geo TV is a serious attack on press freedom in Pakistan. It 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 Amnesty International’s Asia Director Richard Bennett in a statement on Friday.

“The 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 suspension of Geo TV sadly fits an all too familiar pattern in Pakistan. State authorities and other political actors use any means they can to silence critical reporting, from the use of anti-state and anti-religion provisions of the law to physical attacks and violence,” said Richard Bennett.

In a report released on 30 April, Amnesty International documented how media workers in Pakistan live under the constant threat of harassment, violence and killings from a range of state and non-state actors.

Several Jang Media Group journalists have told the Amnesty International that they have received daily threats and harassment by unknown individuals by phone and in person.Many said they dare not enter their offices or identify themselves as belonging to Geo TV or other Jang Media Group outlets for fear of being attacked.“Pakistan’s vibrant media scene deserves better protection, and journalists must be able to carry out their legitimate work without fear or interference,” said Richard Bennett.

The News

The Pakistani authorities should immediately investigate the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the military’s premier spy agency, over its alleged involvement in journalist attacks, said the Amnesty International on the third anniversary of the abduction and killing of journalist Saleem Shahzad.

“Failure to investigate such incidents thoroughly, impartially and transparently and to hold perpetrators accountable fosters a culture of impunity for attacks against independent media in Pakistan,” said David Griffiths, Asia-Pacific Deputy Director at Amnesty International.

In an open letter, Amnesty International and nine other human rights organisations called on the Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to fulfil his promise to end the impunity enjoyed by individuals and groups who attack journalists.

The nine other organisations are: Article 19 (UK), Human Rights Watch, Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom House, International News Safety Institute, Internews, Pakistan Coalition on Media Safety, Pen International and Reporters Without Borders.

“Saleem Shahzad’s killing was one of the worst manifestations of the threats journalists face across Pakistan every day. The authorities’ inability to investigate officers of the ISI properly and bring to justice those responsible for Shahzad’s death is unacceptable – he was abducted in broad daylight in the heart of Islamabad, the national capital,” said David Griffiths.

“Pakistan must immediately restart the criminal investigation into Shahzad’s death, as has been promised by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on multiple occasions. Events of the past few weeks have again highlighted how precarious the situation for Pakistani media is. Continued impunity will only fuel the violence.”

Last month journalist Hamid Mir narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in Karachi. He has accused the ISI of being responsible for the attack.

“According to Amnesty International’s research, the ISI is the state organ most regularly accused by journalists of carrying out harassment, intimidation or abuse against them or their colleagues. This does not necessarily mean that the ISI is always to blame. But if ISI officials are innocent of the accusations they have nothing to fear from thorough investigations and due process,” said David Griffiths.

“We cannot determine who exactly is responsible for these high-profile attacks against journalists until there is proper investigation. All suspects must be presumed innocent until proven guilty and afforded a fair trial in line with international standards.”

To demonstrate their expressed commitment to the rule of law and respect for human rights, Amnesty International calls on the ISI and all other state institutions to cooperate fully with the criminal investigations into the Shahzad, Mir and other attacks.

Saleem Shahzad, an Asia Times Online correspondent, was abducted on 29 May 2011 in Islamabad, and his body was found dumped two days later bearing marks of torture. Shahzad had written articles on a range of sensitive national security issues, including alleged al-Qaeda infiltration of the Pakistani military and the state’s relationship with the Taliban.

Less than a year before his death, Shahzad had told colleagues of an alleged death threat from the ISI. The Pakistani government in 2011 set up a high-level investigation into his death but key evidence mysteriously disappeared and no one has yet been brought to justice.

At least 34 journalists have been killed in relation to their work in Pakistan since the restoration of democracy in 2008, but in only one case during this period have the perpetrators been brought to justice.

In a report released last month, Amnesty International documented how media workers in Pakistan live under the constant threat of harassment, violence and killings from a range of state and non-state actors.

Since the release of the report, a standoff between the country’s largest private broadcaster Geo TV (part of the Jang Media Group) and the authorities has intensified after the network accused the ISI of being behind the assassination attempt on journalist Hamid Mir.

Several Jang Media Group journalists have told Amnesty International that they have received daily threats and harassment by unknown individuals by phone and in person. Many dare not enter their offices or identify themselves as belonging to Geo TV or other Jang Media Group outlets for fear of being attacked.

“There is absolutely no justification for the vicious, organised campaign of harassment against Jang Media Group staff across Pakistan,” said David Griffiths.“It is particularly disappointing that rival media channels and some political parties have joined the chorus to attack Jang Media Group, rather than demand a full and impartial investigation of the circumstances surrounding the attack on Hamid Mir.”

Some government officials have also tried to pull Geo TV off the air over allegedly “anti-state” and “blasphemous” content, and up to 80 percent of Jang Media Group’s distribution in print and on the airwaves has been disrupted by media industry bodies, apparently under the orders of the Pakistani military.

“Attempts to take Geo TV off the air are clearly politically motivated, and constitute a serious attack on freedom of expression in Pakistan,” said David Griffiths.“The last thing Pakistan needs now is a mudslinging campaign against Geo TV, the ISI or anyone else. Pakistan’s long-suffering journalists deserve protection from attacks and justice when they fall victim to abuse. It is the responsibility of Prime Minister Sharif’s government to deliver both. They should start by immediately resuming the investigation into Shahzad’s death.”

Following is the text of the letter:

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER NAWAZ SHARIF

Joint statement of shared concerns about attacks on journalists in Pakistan

29 May 2014

Dear Prime Minister

Three years ago today, journalist Saleem Shahzad was abducted a short distance away from his Islamabad home and later found dead, his body bearing marks consistent with torture. We, the representatives of the undersigned group of civil society organisations working in human rights and media, call on you to fulfil your promise to end the impunity enjoyed by individuals and groups who threaten, attack, abduct, torture and kill journalists in Pakistan. In order to address these attacks on journalists, we urge you to follow through on the commitments you made in March, and as a first phase country for the UN Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, and to take further concrete steps along the lines set out below.

Based on our collective experiences monitoring human rights globally, Pakistan is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, judging by the severity and extent of threats and attacks on media professionals due to their reporting. Dozens of journalists have been killed in Pakistan in direct response to their work over the last decade. At least eight journalists have been killed since your government came to power in June 2013.

Journalists and other media workers from across Pakistan face harassment, abduction, torture and attempts on their lives by state intelligence officers, members of political parties and armed groups like the Taliban. Journalists reporting on national security and human rights, and those reporting from the conflict-affected northwest, violence-ravaged Balochistan and the city of Karachi are most at risk as they rarely enjoy protection from the state or support from their employers.

We are deeply concerned at the failure of successive Pakistan governments to carry out prompt, impartial, independent and thorough investigations into abuses against journalists, or to bring those responsible to justice. Attempts on the lives of Hamid Mir and Raza Rumi and the abduction and killing of Saleem Shahzad exemplify the enduring challenge to justice when journalists come under attack: as far as our organisations are aware, no one has been brought to justice for any of these attacks. Only in two cases of journalist killings have the perpetrators ever been convicted in Pakistan.

The failure to bring those responsible for attacks on journalists to justice sends a signal that the media can be silenced through violence and that the perpetrators can literally get away with murder and other abuses. It also has a chilling effect on freedom of expression in Pakistan, with journalists increasingly resorting to self-censorship to avoid the risk of harm.

It is the Pakistan government’s duty under international law to protect the rights to life, liberty and freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of all individuals within its territory and under its jurisdiction, including journalists. As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Pakistan must also ensure the media is free to carry out its critical function of facilitating and promoting freedom of expression, as guaranteed by Article 19 of the ICCPR. Journalists play a vital role in exposing human rights abuse. Ensuring that journalists are able to undertake their work free from harassment and abuse is therefore an essential cornerstone in the protection and promotion of human rights in Pakistan.

We call on your Government to urgently take the following steps, in line with Pakistan’s international legal obligations, so that journalists may carry out their work free from harassment and abuse:

* Re-start the criminal investigations into the abduction and killing of Saleem Shahzad, as promised by the current Pakistan government, and ensure that all potential suspects, including members of any military and intelligence authorities, are subjected to a full, independent and impartial investigation.

* Ensure prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations into human rights abuses against journalists, including abductions, enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment, extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings.

* Ensure that all persons suspected of crimes involving human rights abuses against journalists, regardless of their status, rank or affiliation with state or non-state groups, are brought to justice in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty.

* Implement the Prime Minister’s announced plan to establish a public prosecutor at the federal and provincial levels tasked with investigating attacks against journalists, and ensure that it is independent, adequately staffed and resourced, and has authority to investigate the military and intelligence services in addition to civilians. Also implement the Prime Minister’s commitment to expedite the prosecution of the killers of journalists by changing trial venues and expanding witness protection programs.

* Ensure, in line with the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, that media companies adhere to requirements on due diligence, health and safety, among other standards in national law and policy; and introduce systemic legal and policy reforms where such requirements either do not exist in national law or are inadequate.

We welcome your concern about the situation for journalists in Pakistan and look forward to the Pakistan government taking real steps to improve the working environment for journalists in Pakistan.

Yours faithfully

1. Amnesty International – Salil Shetty, Secretary General

2. Article 19 (UK) – Thomas Hughes, Executive Director

3. Committee to Protect Journalists – Joel Simon, Executive Director

4. Freedom House – Karin Karlekar, Project Director, Freedom of the Press

5. Human Rights Watch – Brad Adams, Executive Director, Asia Division

6. International News Safety Institute – Hannah Storm, Executive Director

7. Internews – Jeanne Bourgault, President

8. Pakistan Coalition on Media Safety – Owais Aslam Ali, Head of Secretariat

9. Pen International – Ann Harrison, Programme Director

10. Reporters Without Borders – Christopher Deloire, Secretary-General

The News

People are deeply upset as they are not able to watch their favourite and popular channels, Geo News, Geo Entertainment, Geo Tez and Geo Kahani in 90 percent of the country. Geo News and the group’s other channels were also forcibly shut down during the previous two regimes.

All these channels were being disrupted for the last 30 days and in a majority of the areas, the position of the channels was changed and shifted to the last few numbers (mostly above 80) on the cable networks. A vast majority of viewers are unable to watch any channel at a number beyond 45 or 50 because of the limited channel capacity of their TV sets.

During the last 10 days, Geo News was off air in more than 70 percent of Pakistan but what proves Geo as the most favourite channel of the nation is the fact that despite this massive countrywide blackout of the channel, Geo News remained the number one channel according to the official data of independent auditors. This was despite the fact that the organisation and its employees were being termed as ‘Ghaddars’ (traitors).

It was being accused of doing wrong, making big mistakes, and was termed a channel of ‘thieves and dacoits’, a channel of those who work on anti-Pakistan agendas. Despite the propaganda, the people of Pakistan gave their verdict in favour of Geo News, which was a referendum of sorts in its favour.

Meanwhile, people are being fed with one-sided allegations on other TV channels without presenting the viewpoint of Geo.Geo News has suffered losses of around Rs1 billion since April 19, the day when miscreants attacked the channel’s lead anchorperson Hamid Mir in Karachi. Geo has already suffered losses of Rs6.5 billion during a previous regime only because of its efforts to get democracy restored.

Geo was the leader of the Pakistani media which fought and defeated unconstitutional forces and the people of Pakistan today not only enjoy the fruits of democracy but also free, independent and impartial institutions because of these great sacrifices rendered, among others, by Geo and the Jang Group and its staff.

Not only did Geo News maintain its position and the number one news channel of the country according to three different independent auditors, but its entertainment channels are also at number one in their category. This continuous and top position of Geo is because of the channel’s policy under which it tries its best to give complete independence to its professionals and workers and because of the following of basic principles of professionalism and strict adherence to media ethics.There is no channel in the country which has sacrificed this much while fighting and defending Pakistanis’ right to know and access to information.

The management of Geo has been consistently complaining and five complaints have so far been registered by the channel management with Pemra. However, Pemra and the government have either deliberately engineered a complete shutdown of Geo through the cable operators or are mysteriously silent and haven’t even initiated any legal action in accordance with Pemra law and rules against the cable operators who have illegally and unconstitutionally put the channel off air on the orders of hidden hands.

Geo has, however, collected a large amount of evidence and has recorded thousands of testimonies of citizens of Pakistan residing in all parts of the country in more than 30 towns and cities revealing how and when Geo News and other Geo channels were put off air from their areas. Cable operators have also recorded their testimonies giving details as to who was ordering them to put Geo off air by using direct or indirect threats. In some cases, the phone numbers used to order the shutdown of Geo are also available.

The most interesting point of the whole story is that these cable operators clearly stated that they were not being pressurised to shut Geo down because of a recent morning show hosted by Shaista Lodhi after which Geo and the Jang Group have tendered unconditional apologies. Rather, this pressure was coming from different forces, which also include banned organisations, terrorist groups and some extremist organisations. Geo and the Jang Group will present this whole record and evidence before the nation at some appropriate time.

One member of a cable operators’ organisation, Khalid Arain, is playing major role in this shutdown of Geo. Arain is known for his close terms and business relations with a known media group owner and also runs this media owners’ front cable company. This media house owner is running a baseless campaign against the Geo/Jang Group because of vested interests and is being used by the ‘angels’. Arain has a history of acting against Geo and had played a key role in disrupting the Geo Super signal during the transmission of the 2011 Cricket World Cup and putting Pakistan’s first sports channel off air later illegally in contemptuous disregard and violation of Supreme Court orders.

According to some senior people of the cable industry, Khalid Arain has a mysterious character and is known for taking contracts in return for money to inflict losses on professional media institutions. According to senior people in the cable industry, owners of some media groups who have started their media business to gain more and more influence, use him for this purpose because of his influence on cable operators across the country. Khalid Arain, however, always denies these allegations and has taken an oath on the Holy Quran that he never remained involved in this activity.

Journalists belonging to the Geo/Jang Group are extremely upset and anxious because of the ongoing situation as the group has already announced the downsizing of working journalists because of the great financial burden the group is facing. It has suffered severe losses in the last two regimes because of doing independent journalism. Workers, journalists are also gearing up for big protests against the present government and hidden forces.

Top journalist and victim of the horrible April 19 attack Hamid Mir has also given a call to all journalists to get united. The foreign media and independent journalists organisations have also shown great concerns over the situation in Pakistan and are in touch with Pakistani journalists and media workers to fight a joint war against the forces of oppression.

The News