Case Update Status

President passes the bill on August 16.

Summary of Case

"On August 10, the Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND) has urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Federal Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb to introduce necessary revisions to the Pemra Act rather than withdrawing the bill. In a press statement released by AEMEND, which was also shared on the organization's Twitter account, they advocated against the withdrawal of the bill. The statement proposed that the bill could be subject to discussion and approval after specific modifications. The press release highlighted that Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb should not have opted to retract the new PEMRA Amendments. The Pemra amendment act was formulated through collaborative discussions involving MOL, PBA, AEMEND, APNS, PFUJ, and CPNE. While the bill needed enhancements in various areas, it also introduced favorable elements. Most notably, it included substantial measures to bolster workers' rights, a proposition that AEMEND and other media organizations had previously suggested and sought to further enhance. Numerous media workers experience extended delays in receiving their salaries from certain channels, despite these channels benefiting from government advertisements. The bill suggested that government advertising should be linked to ensuring the settlement of all dues, including timely salary disbursements, for workers. Although the term ""salary"" was part of the bill, it could be modified to ""dues"" to prevent any unwarranted advantage stemming from potential confusion."

Category of Incident

Censorship

ICCS Status

ICCS Divisions: 0803-Acts related to freedom of expression or control of expression

ICCS Group: 08039-Other acts related to freedom of expression or control of expression

ICCS Class: N/A

ICCS Crime: Acts related to freedom of expression or control of expression

Reported By

Daily times

Date of incident

10

Month

August

Year

2023

Name of affected person

No person was affected

Other affected persons

Not other person affected

Name of affected organization

All media channels and organisations

Other affected organizations

No other organization was affected

Action by

By the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority

City

Nationwide

Province

Nationwide

Designation

Media Organisation

Professional category

Not Applicable

Age of victim

N/A

Marital Status

Compensation Details

Amount of compensation announced by government: No compensation announced

Date of compensation announcement by government: No compensation announced

Date of compensation paid by government: No compensation announced

Amount of compensation announced by others: No compensation announced

Date of compensation announced by others: No compensation announced

Date compensation paid by others: No compensation announced

FIR Details

Was FIR registered ?: No

Court Details

Was case investigated ?: No

Court where case was presented: It is a PEMRA directive

Name of prosecuting lawyer: It is a PEMRA directive

Date of first court hearing:

Date of last court hearing:

Status of court case: It is a PEMRA directive

Journalist Union Status

PFUJ

Not required to contact

APNS

CPNE

PBA

Media Source Status

Media reports:

Condemn Status

Colleague of victim

Not required to contact

Employer organization

Not required to contact

Press Club Status

Press club 1: Not required to contact

Press club 2:

Press club 3: