Pakistan, Islamabad CT

  • 10 Jan 2018
    Taha Siddiqui

    Country Pakistan  State Islamabad CT  Violation Type Attack  Target Journalist

    Journalist Taha Siddiqui was subjected of attack and abduction attempt in Islamabad, Pakistan on January 10. Siddiqui, the Pakistan bureau chief of India-based World Is One News (WION) television news network and a regular contributor to international media including the New York Times and France 24, was intercepted by around a dozen gunmen while he was in a taxi on the expressway to the airport. The gunmen pulled him out of the taxi, threatened to kill him and beat him up before pushing him into a vehicle. He managed to escape by jumping out of the moving vehicle, crossed the expressway and hailed a taxi. He stopped at a police station seeking refuge.

  • 21 Jul 2017
    Saba Bajeer and Aitzaz Hassan

    Country Pakistan  State Islamabad CT  Violation Type Arrest/Detainment  Target Journalist

    Saba Bajeer of Channel 24 TV and Aitzaz Hassan of DawnNews were manhandled and illegally detained for an hour by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) where they were on assignment to report an arrest on July 21. The FIA had brought Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Chairman Zafarul Haq Hijazi for a medical check-up after his arrest. Bajeer took photos using her cell-phone when FIA official approached her, grabbed her by the arm and asked her to delete the photos. The FIA official then started pushing Hassan, on whose suggestion Bajeer had proceeded to delete the photos. Hassan’s mobile phone and cards were then snatched. The journalists were taken to an empty room of the PIMS and detained for an hour without giving them access to phone. They were released after other journalists at the venue protested.

  • 26 Nov 2016
    Din News, Neo TV and Sach TV

    Country Pakistan  State Islamabad CT  Violation Type Media Regulations  Target Media House

    The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) suspended licenses of Din News for a month and Neo TV for a week; and fined them Rs 1 million (approximately USD 9,500) for ‘levelling baseless allegations against the judge of the Supreme Court’. PEMRA also fined Sach TV Rs 1 million for the airing remarks of a caller. The suspension will be implemented from December 1, 2016 and the fine payable within 15 days. Three satellite TV channels were issued notices on November 19, 2016 for airing ‘irresponsible’ analysis and asked to submit their replies on November 26, 2016 after appearance in PEMRA. On November 26, the reply was submitted and the channels were allowed to present their defense.