Accessibility links

Breaking News

Pakistan Pulls TV Channel Off Air


Pakistan's media regulation authority says it has taken a television news channel off the air for 15 days for "maligning" the country's judiciary.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulation Authority said on October 21 that the private ARY News channel was shut following a court order.

ARY was also ordered to pay a fine of nearly $100,000 and one of the broadcaster's anchors, Mubashar Luqman, was banned from appearing on any national television.

In the northwestern city of Peshawar, several dozen journalists staged a protest against the ruling.

ARY has been supporting the two-month antigovernment protests demanding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif step down over alleged vote-rigging.

GEO News, the country's most popular channel, was taken off the air for two weeks in June over a row with Pakistan’s spy agency, the ISI.

With reporting by AP and AFP

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG