According to media reports four armed men stormed the office located the posh Clifton locality of the city in the evening, forced employees to vacate the office and then set fire to the premise. The fire fighters rushed to the scene and managed to extinguish the fire.

In May, the industry association of cable television operators had decided to suspend transmission of Geo Television Network channels ostensibly for broadcasting blasphemous content. The television network apologised for the programme but also went to court against the decision of the cable operators. The court ruled the suspension as illegal and directed cable operators to resume transmission of Geo. Worldcall and a number of other cable networks restored transmission but many did not. The arson attack seems to be in retaliation against the the restoration of Geo Television. Worldcall again suspended transmission of Geo Television channels after the arson attack.

“Worldcall had received several threats two days before the incident, and it also informed police about it but no security stepa were taken in this regard,” said Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists President Afzal Butt. Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) in a statement strongly condemned the attack and demanded that Rangers, police and law enforcement agencies personnel should trace out the culprits involved in the attack and apprehend them.

Pakistan Press Foundation

Reporters Without Borders condemns the use of intimidation and violence as a new way to silence the embattled TV news station Geo News after unidentified gunmen torched cable TV operator WorldCall’s premises in the southern city of Karachi on 19 July.

WorldCall had only recently resumed transmission of Geo News, which a government agency suspended for 15 days last month.

Police and witnesses said between four and six gunmen stormed into WorldCall’s offices, disarmed security guards, ordered employees to leave and then set fire to the place. The blaze gutted the premises but caused no injuries. It also interrupted transmission of Geo News in several parts of the city.

“This attack was an illegal act of censorship and an unacceptable act of intimidation of cable TV operators, who play a key role in freedom of information,” said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

“Cable TV operators have already been the victims of intimidation in the past and now a new threat is hanging over them. The Pakistani authorities have a duty to take this threat seriously and adopt measures to protect them.”

WorldCall had received threats and had reported them to the police but no special measures were taken to protect the company.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) suspended Geo News for 15 days on 6 June after it broadcast claims by its leading anchor, Hamid Mir, that the intelligence agencies were behind the shooting attack in which he was badly injured on 19 April.

Although the 15-day suspension ended a month ago, Geo News still cannot be seen in many parts of Pakistan because threats are deterring cable TV operators from restoring it to the range of channels they offer. On 18 July, for example, an attempt was made to set fire to a cable TV operator in Rahimyar Khan, in the eastern province of Punjab.

Pakistan is ranked 158th out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

Reporters Without Border