Pakistan news channel Geo TV goes off air

Staff of Pakistani channel Geo News work in their control room in Karachi.

Lahore - The move has been strongly condemned by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

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By Web Report

Published: Sun 8 Apr 2018, 9:16 AM

Last updated: Wed 5 Jul 2023, 4:07 PM

Pakistan's largest television network, Geo TV has gone off air in most parts of the country.

"We are off the air in 80 percent of the country", Mir Ibrahim Rahman, Chief Executive of the Network, told New York Times.

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"If viewers/readers cannot watch Geo News on their TV screens or if our channels have somehow been shifted from their original numbers, or if they are deprived of receiving their copies of Daily Jang or/and The News, they can lodge complaints at telephone number: 021-32271133," Geo TV has tweeted.

According to the DNA, Pakistan's Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said that the government did not order the suspension of the channel. He also did not give the reason for the suspension. It is believed that the channel has been suspended on the orders of the military.

The move has been strongly condemned by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

"The arbitrary suspension of Geo TV on cable TV is a direct assault on Pakistan's constitutionally guaranteed right to access information," Steven Butler, the committee's Asia program coordinator, said. "It's outrageous that the authorities are either unable to find or too frightened to name those powerful enough to orchestrate the blocking of the news distribution."

Web Report

Published: Sun 8 Apr 2018, 9:16 AM

Last updated: Wed 5 Jul 2023, 4:07 PM

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