PEMRA bans coverage of four journalists among 11 'proclaimed offenders'

Islamabad: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) banned coverage of eleven persons including politicians, former military and media persons on the news channels.

The news stations have also received instructions from the PEMRA.

The persons whose entry has been banned on the new channels included Syed Akbar Hussain Shah, Sabir Shakir, Moeed Hussain Peerzada, Wajahat Saeed Khan, Adil Farooq Raja, Haider Raza Mehdi, Shaheen Sehbai, Ali Nawaz Awan, Farooq Habib, Murad Saeed and Hammad Azhar.

PEMRA cited a ruling by the Sindh High Court (SHC) in claiming that such individuals were not entitled to certain privileges, such as appearing on television.

The PEMRA directive states that section 27 of the PEMRA Ordinance 2002 "hereby prohibits media coverage of above-mentioned persons being proclaimed offenders on electronic media and refrains from airing any news, reports, statements or tickers of these persons."

The PEMRA regulation states that the news outlets would be subject to severe fines if they disobeyed the rules.

Furthermore, The PEMRA has also complained about the situation to the Council of Complaints.