The senior Tory leader and UK government figure said this during the annual Milad conference and awards ceremony here organised by Pir Alauddin Siddiqui.Speaking about attack on Geo anchor Hamid Mir and attacks on Jang Group and Geo across the cities of Pakistan by the dubious forces and moves by the Defence Ministry seeking ban on Geo TV, the Works and Pensions Secretary said that media freedoms cannot be taken away in this day and age.

“Without hesitation, I believe in the freedom of speech and freedom of religion, freedom of the press and freedom of worship. Without the freedom of the press, you cannot have freedom of speech.”

With reference to the attack on Hamid Mir, the ruling party parliamentarian said that Britain believed in defending those who speak out against the powerful. He said that in the absence of brave and investigative journalists such as Hamid Mir “who will support the weak against the powerful?”

The Conservative parliamentarian said that the press must be free to report what’s in public interest. He said that those who threaten media freedoms actually threaten everybody because they are very scared of media independence and they do so because they want to take away the ability of the media to report freely and independently. Ian Duncan Smith added: “You cannot, without the freedom of the press, have all those freedoms, the freedom of worship, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. I am for free press and anyone who threatens the free press is the enemy of human freedoms.”

The News

The JP has transgressed his authority by passing an order in the absence of an application moved to the police for lodging an FIR, criminal law experts spoke out when contacted by this correspondent.

Renowned criminal lawyer, Rizwan Abbasi when contacted, said, “The JP crossed his limits.”He said section 22-A, B of the Cr.PC provides remedy for aggrieved person in case there is some excess of the police authorities or the police refuse to lodge an FIR after receipt of information of a commission of a cognisable offence. When the application has not been submitted before the police, how can the Justice of Peace be approached, he asked.

The JP, in his order, indicated that the complainant didn’t approach the area police first and directly submitted a petition before the JP, he said. “Comments were sought from the SHO Margalla, who reported that no such application has been submitted by the petitioner as well as that the incident took place in another part of the country, so there is no jurisdiction to register an FIR,” the JP wrote in his order.

Rizwan Abbasi said the courts should not play the role of SHO, adding that in genuine cases, if someone directly approaches the Justice of Peace and claims that the police are reluctant to entertain/receive an application, he (the JP) can only direct the police to receive the application but in any eventuality, normal process cannot be bypassed. One should approach the police first and on the non-cooperation of police, one can knock at the door of the Justice of Peace.

If someone approaches the police for the registration of an FIR and feels aggrieved because of police conduct, when he approaches the Justice of Peace, he (the JP) can only see whether the information of the commission of a cognisable offence has been conveyed to the police. If yes, what is the reason for the inaction of the police, Abbasi said, adding that the JP cannot go into the correctness or falseness of allegations. Secondly, he cannot direct the police under a particular provision of law, and even the JP cannot add any section of the law.

In PLD 2005, Lahore page 470, titled Khizar Hayat and others vs IGP Lahore and others, Head Note-X, says, the JP cannot add or delete any section, overall in charge of a criminal case is area magistrate, who during the investigation gets many opportunities to go through the record of investigation and in appropriate cases and at an appropriate stage, he can require the IO to consider or delete any penal provision, he maintained.

Rizwan Abbasi said, in the present case, the JP declared the offence as a terrorist act when the application was not given to the police which is on record. He said, in the present era, every citizen of Pakistan or even a citizen of the global society can easily understand terrorism which explodes in markets and kills hundreds of people. How can freedom of expression can be termed as a terrorist act”. Terrorism is defined in section 6 of the ATA 1997, which is divided into two parts, Part-1 defines Mensrea, Part-2 elaborates Actusrea. If someone takes an action defined in sub section 2 of section 6 of ATA with the intention defined in clause 1 of section 6, then it can be termed as an act of terrorism. In an order dated 3-5-2014, the JP has discussed only Part-1 of the above said section and not mentioned which action has been taken by the proposed accused due to which he declared it an act of terrorism, Rizwan said.

However, on the other side, when journalists are being declared terrorists and traitors, article-19 of the Constitution protects freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of press, he concluded.

Renowned lawyer Athar Minallah, when contacted, said the court (JP) should not exercise such power in these circumstances when high courts have dismissed the same kinds of petitions. “I haven’t heard such orders in my career,” Minallah said.

Many prominent lawyers of the federal capital, including Malik Nasir, Advocate, Mohammad Mansoor, Advocate, Muhammad Arif, Advocate, Ziaur Rehman, Advocate Muhammad Imran, Advocate Rizwan Bagri and Muhammad Akhter Cheema Advocate expressed the same point of view about the biased order of the JP.

It is to be mentioned here that Additional Sessions Judge-VIII, /Judge of Peace (West) Islamabad, earlier accepting the petition filed by Arshad Mehmood Butt, son of Fazal Karim Butt, resident of Mustafa Apartments, Markaz G-8, Islamabad, ordered to lodge an FIR against journalists under the terrorism act.

Monitoring Desk adds: Eminent lawyer Jam Asif Mehmood said the orders to register an FIR against journalists have been issued by the Justice of Peace, and not the judiciary. He clarified that the Justice of Peace is not part of the judiciary.

He said the order was issued on the complaint of a person who is not an aggrieved party, while the aggrieved party has already availed its remedy and approached the Ministry of Defence and Pemra. Hence, he said, this order was not maintainable and the impression was not right that an FIR was not being registered despite court orders.

The News

At a large rally held outside Pakistan High Commission here, British Pakistanis from all walks of life expressed solidarity with the senior Geo TV anchor and expressed shock at the brazen attack on the country’s highest profile anchor. Around 200 demonstrators attended the solidarity rally organized by Pakistani community members and journalist unions. The demonstrators came from all over the United Kingdom on a day’s notice and chanted slogans in favour of Hamid Mir and a bid to ban Geo/Jang for two hours.

Those who attended the protest included men and women of all ages, representatives of PML-N, APML, PPP, PTI, PAT, UKPNP, ANP, PWT and many other organizations. Britian’s largest media union National Union of Journalists, in conjunction with Pakistan Journalists Association (PJA) and Pakistan Press Club (PPC), also supported the solidarity call.

The demonstrators demanded arrest of assailants of Hamid Mir besides making the investigation process transparent and trustworthy. They called on the judicial commission set up the by the government to go to every extent to find why Hamid Mir has been constantly threatened and why the successive governments have failed to bring the suspects to justice.

The demonstrators carried placards and raised slogans against the assault on Hamid Mir, terming it an attack on the free press of Pakistan. The placards read, “we condemn attack on Hamid Mir”, “Before the 6 bullets he spoke the truth, after 6 bullets he still speaks the truth”, “Bullets cannot silence media – bullets cannot silence truth”, “Hamid Mir – patriotic Pakistani”, “we support freedom of speech”, and “Let truth prevail”.

The demonstrators said that the attack on Mir was in fact an assault on the entire media community of Pakistan and it was aimed at silencing the critics who dared to speak the truth and question the powerful forces. They said Hamid Mir was the leading anchor who held the government accountable and that’s why it was utmost important to look into all aspects of this attack. They said that attack on Hamid Mir had sent shock waves across the country and throughout the world.

They said condemnation of the attack had poured in from all over the world and it just showed that Hamid Mir is a towering international figure who is known to everyone who cares about human rights, democracy and freedom of speech. They said that attack on Hamid Mir and other journalists showed that some forces want to silence journalists through use of force and intimidation so that the material that’s aired is only the one that has official approval.

Pakistani community members expressed alarm that the Ministry of Defence had approached Pemra for a ban on Geo and Jang group. They said it was astonishing that the ministry had stooped so low in 21st century. They reminded those want to ban Geo that previously at least two governments did the same but were defeated.

Pakistani community members resolved that a ban on Geo and Jang group would not be tolerated at any level and Europe wide rallies will be held against such a move. They said if Geo is banned then the whole issue will be internationalized and western governments, which provide aid to Pakistan, will be approached to take Pakistani government to task for the draconian ban.

Pakistani journalists said that attack on Hamid Mir had also exposed how media was divided in Pakistan and some anchors were there only to do bidding of the Ministries of Defence and Interior. They said the conduct of many anchors following Hamid Mir attack has been utterly despicable. They called on Pemra to also take notice of those channels and anchors that have been inciting violence against media persons for several months.

The News

The petitioner named the Federation of Pakistan through secretary Ministry of Defence, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Mir Ibrahim Rehman, chief executive officer Geo TV, Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman, Amir Mir, Ansar Abbasi, Imtiaz Alam, Najam Sethi, Muneeb Farooq, Idrees Bakhtiar, Umar Cheema, Iftikhar Ahmad, Asma Shirazi and Dr Amir Liaquat as respondents.

The petitioner through his counsel adopted before the court that it is necessary for the safety and security of the country that the spy agencies keep working in an efficient way. That the functioning of electronic media is very important due to the fact that most people in this country are illiterate and cannot read newspapers.

He said that according to Pemra rules the judiciary and armed forces could not be criticised over television networks.The petitioner alleged that Geo Television has violated Pemra rules while criticising the armed forces of Pakistan after an attack over its anchor person Hamid Mir. He prayed to the court to cancel Geo TV’s licence.

The court however dismissed the petition without hearing.Our correspondent from Lahore adds: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday dismissed a petition filed by anchorperson Mubashar Lucman for high treason proceedings against the administration of Geo and Jang Group.

The judge remarked if the petitioner wanted to initiate proceedings against the respondents under Article 6 of the Constitution, he should approach the federal government because under the relevant law, only the federal government was competent to start treason proceedings.

Lucman had also sought cancellation of declaration of the Jang and The News and cancellation of licence of Geo TV for leveling baseless allegations against ‘the most respectful and credible institution of the country’.

The News

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned a request from the Pakistan Ministry of Defence for the government to shut down the country’s largest television news station, Geo.

According to media reports, on Tuesday, 22 April, in the first action of its kind, the Ministry of Defence requested that the government invoke media regulations to shut down Geo, accusing the station of running a “vicious campaign” against the military’s Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, or ISI.

Unease had been building between the Ministry and the station since last Saturday, 19 April, when Hamid Mir, a television anchor for Geo, was shot multiple times by unidentified gunmen as he was being driven to a television studio in Karachi.

Mir survived the attack and is being treated for gunshot wounds to the chest and shoulder. But as he was still receiving emergency treatment, Geo broadcast accusations from his brother, the journalist Amir Mir, who accused the ISI of being responsible for the attack. Geo also reportedly broadcast a photograph of the ISI chief, Lt. Gen. Zahir ul-Islam, while a senior journalist employed by the station called for the general to resign.

Media reports say that in a four-page letter to the state-run Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, the Defense Ministry not only asked for Geo’s broadcasting license to be revoked, but called for the body to initiate criminal proceedings against Geo editors and management.

“This is a difficult period in Pakistan and passions and anger are clearly running high following the vicious attack on the journalist Hamid Mir. But this should not lead to controls and restrictions being placed on the country’s media,” said IFJ President Jim Boumelha.

“We strongly condemn the call for the closure of Geo and we call on the government of Pakistan to reject the request and to ensure the rights and freedoms of media organisations and journalists in the country are upheld.”

The National Union of Journalists in the UK and Ireland (NUJ) has expressed its opposition to the Defence Ministry’s actions and the NUJ London chapel of Geo TV have helped to organise a solidarity protest in support of Hamid Mir on Saturday 26 April at 3.30pm outside the Pakistan High Commission in London.

International federation of Journalists (IFJ)

ISLAMABAD: While the Defense Ministry wants to ban Geo and Jang Group newspapers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thursday showed some compassion when it condemned attack on Hamid Mir.

At the weekly media briefing, the spokesperson was reminded that the US State Department, Reporters without Borders and the Amnesty International had condemned the brutal attack on known anchor Hamid Mir.

“I don’t think anyone in this room or outside would condone what happened in Karachi. We condemn the attack on Hamid Mir and wish him a speedy recovery,” the spokesperson responded in a room full of working journalists from Pakistani’s print and electronic media.

The spokesperson also advised Pakistanis to focus on the country’s internal issues before commenting on foreign institutions.To a query about “provocative” statements by the Indian and other international media houses (who have merely carried statements by Mir’s family who pointed finger at a particular Pakistani institution) on the life attempt, the spokesperson replied: “As regards the negative reporting, obviously there is a tendency to indulge in propaganda against Pakistan.

You talked about the negative propaganda in the Indian media; it has not surprised us. It should not surprise anyone.”As regards the international media criticising our institutions, this is baseless. We all need to focus on our internal issues, before we start commenting on institutions and situations in other countries”.

IRAN: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will be visiting Iran before May 15 at a time. The spokesperson said high-level interaction and engagements were continuing to make it a substantive visit which would include senior Iranian officials visiting Pakistan.

“The Iranian interior minister is likely to visit Pakistan. The dates are being finalised. It is not true that it was scheduled and then cancelled. The dates have not been finalized as yet. The visit is likely to take place, probably before the prime minister’s visit to Iran,” added the spokesperson.

KASHMIR: Elections taking part in the Indian Occupied Kashmir are not an alternative to the exercise of right to self-determination by the people of Kashmir.“This is the position of the United Nations Security Council resolutions as well that any elections in the Indian Occupied Kashmir are not an alternative to the exercise of Kashmiris right to self-determination,” explained the spokesperson.

The News

Freedom is a heady wine, and once tasted, the desire for more grows exponentially. This is what has transformed the media scene in Pakistan over the last decade or more. However, freedom if exercised without responsibility is no longer just an inebriant, in excess it becomes poison. Something along these lines has emerged in Pakistan in recent years. First, a certain myth that has gained currency and traction in Pakistan for some time needs to be laid to rest. During the 18th century, the press came to be dubbed the fourth estate in Europe, principally in Britain and France (which was undergoing its Revolution). Estates were categories of communities in society that could be treated as a group because of shared interests. Thus in France, the monarchy, aristocracy, peasantry, etc, were dubbed estates. The rise of the press in the 18th century (its role in the French Revolution is well documented) produced the title of fourth estate for it. Unfortunately this has been translated wrongly in Pakistan as the ‘fourth pillar of the state’. Wrong as the notion is, since the press (media) is not part of the state but arguably located somewhere between (and perhaps bridging) political and civil society as a watchdog of the people’s interests in an inherently adversarial relationship with the state, governments of the day, and authority in general, it has had the inadvertent effect, particularly since 2002, of giving the media the false notion of more power than the ground realities suggest. If this has gone to the heads of certain sections of the media, the nature of things would tend to dictate a correction is due sooner or later. We have argued in this space consistently that there is no such thing as freedom without responsibility, and any such untrammeled freedom cannot be long lasting. Unfortunately, along with the decline of the institution of professional editor, adventurism based on false notions of excessive empowerment has crept into sections of the media. Whatever the mistakes or lapses of such sections, the other tragedy is the manner in which the Hamid Mir affair has brought the split in the media on the basis of professional rivalry out into the open. Some media houses have chosen to use the opportunity of the difficulties the group Hamid Mir belongs to to attack it roundly on the basis of being anti-national, unpatriotic, and even anti-state. It is not for the media to act as prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner in such matters. The lack of solidarity amongst media houses and the journalists associated with them is likely in the long run to damage all of us in the profession.

Since the defence ministry has chosen to take its complaint to NEPRA, justice demands that the process be allowed to play itself out according to the law and rules, and the channel be allowed to fight its case without others in the field nipping away at its heels. We may or may not agree with the approach and policies of one media group or the other or even individual journalists, but this should not blind us to the need to stand in solidarity with victim Hamid Mir and his media group that has collaterally been pinioned in the dock.

Daily Times

Freedom is a heady wine, and once tasted, the desire for more grows exponentially. This is what has transformed the media scene in Pakistan over the last decade or more. However, freedom if exercised without responsibility is no longer just an inebriant, in excess it becomes poison. Something along these lines has emerged in Pakistan in recent years. First, a certain myth that has gained currency and traction in Pakistan for some time needs to be laid to rest. During the 18th century, the press came to be dubbed the fourth estate in Europe, principally in Britain and France (which was undergoing its Revolution). Estates were categories of communities in society that could be treated as a group because of shared interests. Thus in France, the monarchy, aristocracy, peasantry, etc, were dubbed estates. The rise of the press in the 18th century (its role in the French Revolution is well documented) produced the title of fourth estate for it. Unfortunately this has been translated wrongly in Pakistan as the ‘fourth pillar of the state’. Wrong as the notion is, since the press (media) is not part of the state but arguably located somewhere between (and perhaps bridging) political and civil society as a watchdog of the people’s interests in an inherently adversarial relationship with the state, governments of the day, and authority in general, it has had the inadvertent effect, particularly since 2002, of giving the media the false notion of more power than the ground realities suggest. If this has gone to the heads of certain sections of the media, the nature of things would tend to dictate a correction is due sooner or later. We have argued in this space consistently that there is no such thing as freedom without responsibility, and any such untrammeled freedom cannot be long lasting. Unfortunately, along with the decline of the institution of professional editor, adventurism based on false notions of excessive empowerment has crept into sections of the media. Whatever the mistakes or lapses of such sections, the other tragedy is the manner in which the Hamid Mir affair has brought the split in the media on the basis of professional rivalry out into the open. Some media houses have chosen to use the opportunity of the difficulties the group Hamid Mir belongs to to attack it roundly on the basis of being anti-national, unpatriotic, and even anti-state. It is not for the media to act as prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner in such matters. The lack of solidarity amongst media houses and the journalists associated with them is likely in the long run to damage all of us in the profession.

Since the defence ministry has chosen to take its complaint to NEPRA, justice demands that the process be allowed to play itself out according to the law and rules, and the channel be allowed to fight its case without others in the field nipping away at its heels. We may or may not agree with the approach and policies of one media group or the other or even individual journalists, but this should not blind us to the need to stand in solidarity with victim Hamid Mir and his media group that has collaterally been pinioned in the dock.

Daily Times

A mindset that believes that any criticism of one’s action or any questioning of one’s motives is tantamount to threatening the country only goes to show the excessively high regard some institutions hold themselves in – at the cost of others. True patriotism, borne out of love for country, demands that those who hold power be held accountable and are subject to tough questioning. What is happening now in the form of the threat to Geo TV could affect anyone else, any other media body in the future. Games of one-upmanship must not be played and petty politics abandoned. There were reports that Defence Minister Khwaja Asif was opposed to approaching Pemra. He too has come in for a lot of flak after some of his old speeches surfaced and were played ad nauseum on television. The government should be able to play its role without being intimidated or influenced by any quarters and by standing on the side of what lies within our constitution. The government and the military both need to ensure that they act in the interest of the country and its people as a whole. What we need at this time is good sense, reason and fair play above all else. What is of paramount importance is to defend the freedom of the media and ensure it can function as a means to bring news and opinion of every kind to people. Tolerance for this opinion must increase. A blanking out of screens could only worsen the situation we already face and add to the lack of transparency we already suffer from in a country where too many secrets lurk.

The News

On April 22, 2014 the federal Ministry of Defence filed a reference with Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) for tarnishing the image of ISI. PEMRA, which has the authority to suspend or cancel the broadcast licenses, issued a show cause notice asking the Geo administration to submit its reply within 14 days. Pemra also directed chief executive of Geo News to appear in person on May 6.

Geo has challenged the notice by Pemra in the Sindh High Court, which has issued notices to the federal government and has fixed May 2 for hearing.

Tensions rose between ISI and Geo after the channel broadcast allegations by Mir’s brother that the journalist had told his family, employers, government and army officials that some officials of ISI including its Director General, Lt. Gen Zaheerul Islam had prepared a plan to eliminate him.

Geo reported that cable operators have blocked Geo’s transmissions in military cantonment areas and newspaper vendors in these areas have been directed not distribute newspaper of the group. Geo has also alleged that these ‘illegal’ actions have been taken on orders of ‘some forces’.

The Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) in an emergency meeting unanimously declared that closure of any media house or cancellation of licence of any channel or publication will not be acceptable. CPNE said such action will lead to a grave crisis and will do irreparable harm to the democratic Pakistan. The meeting also declared that the right to freedom of speech is enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan and the state should provide adequate protection to journalists against threats from any quarter.

The meeting strongly condemned the attack on Mir and demanded that the government to take immediate and swift action to ensure the safety of all the media persons.

Pakistan Press Foundation