ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on Thursday banned the broadcast of speeches, interviews and public addresses by “absconders and proclaimed offenders.”
The ban comes hours after Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif accused the country’s military of political interference, saying in a televised speech from exile in London that the army had rigged the 2018 election. The military and present government have both denied the charge.
Sharif’s third term as prime minister ran from 2013 to 2017, when he was removed by the Supreme Court amid revelations over his personal wealth. Last year he was released on bail from a seven-year prison sentence for corruption and flown to London for medical treatment. He has not returned and Prime Minister Imran Khan has said his government will bring him back from London through a court order.
“A self-explanatory complaint received from Mr. Muhammad Azhar Siddique against the several news channels in particular who aired the interview/speech/ public addresses of an absconder or a proclaimed offender,” PEMRA said in its order, reminding news channels that they were bound to comply with PEMRA laws.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication, Dr. Shahbaz Gill, told media an “absconding criminal” would not be allowed to take part in political activities or deliver speeches on live TV.
Sharif’s allegations have also sparked an angry response from PM Khan, who in his own televised remarks on Thursday said Sharif was “playing a very dangerous game” by humiliating the military and intelligence services. He dismissed the allegations of rigged elections as baseless.
Pakistan telecoms regulator bans TV speeches by ‘proclaimed offenders, absconders’
https://arab.news/7md86
Pakistan telecoms regulator bans TV speeches by ‘proclaimed offenders, absconders’
- Ban comes after ex-PM Nawaz Sharif delivered televised speeches against the Pakistan government and military from exile in London
- Sharif was last year released on bail from a seven-year prison sentence for corruption and flown to London for medical treatment
Death toll in Pakistan wedding suicide blast rises to six
- Attack targeted members of local peace committee in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan
- Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces
PESHAWAR: The death toll from a suicide bombing at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan rose to six, police said on Saturday, after funeral prayers were held for those killed in the attack a day earlier.
The bomber detonated explosives during a wedding gathering in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, injuring more than a dozen, some of them critically.
“The death toll has surged to six,” said Nawab Khan, Superintendent of Police for Saddar Dera Ismail Khan. “Police have completed the formalities and registered the case against unidentified attackers.”
“It was a suicide attack and the Counter Terrorism Department will further investigate the case,” he continued, adding that security had been stepped up across the district to prevent further incidents.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.
Khan cautioned against speculation, citing ongoing militancy in the area, and said the investigation was being treated with “utmost seriousness.”
The explosion targeted the home of a member of a local peace committee, which is part of community-based groups that cooperate with security forces and whose members have frequently been targeted by militants in the past.
Some media reports also cited a death toll of seven, quoting police authorities.
Emergency officials said several of the wounded were taken to hospital soon after the blast.
Militant attacks have intensified in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Afghan authorities of “facilitating” cross-border assaults, a charge Kabul denies.
