Pakistan’s immigration authorities have barred entry of Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) Asia Programme Coordinator Steven Butler, saying that his name had been placed on a “stop list”.
“Last night [Wednesday], Pakistani immigration authorities denied entry to CPJ Asia Programme Coordinator Steven Butler, citing a blacklist managed by the Ministry of Interior,” the CPJ said in a statement issued Thursday as journalists across the country accuse the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of placing bars on media.
“A border officer at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore told Butler that his journalist visa was valid, but it was voided because his name was ‘on a stop list of the Interior Ministry’,” it quoted Butler as saying.
According to the statement, Butler’s passport was “confiscated” by airport authorities and he was forced to board a flight bound for Doha. When he arrived in Doha, authorities there placed him on a flight to Washington, the statement read further.
While on the flight, Butler told the CPJ that the flight crew had seized his passport and boarding pass and that he was in “a kind of restrictive custody”.
“Pakistani authorities’ move to block Steven Butler from entering the country is baffling and is a slap in the face to those concerned about press freedom in the country,” the statement quoted CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon as saying.
“Pakistani authorities should give a full explanation of their decision to bar Butler from entering and correct this error. If the government is interested in demonstrating its commitment to a free press, it should conduct a swift and transparent investigation into this case.”
Butler had landed in Lahore to participate in the Asma Jahangir Conference — Roadmap for Human Rights in Pakistan, said the statement.
BARS ON MEDIA:
The development came two days after Geo News, one of Pakistan’s major news channels, took off the air a press conference of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman with its anchor explaining it was because the Pakistan Electronic Media Authority (PEMRA) has banned a live telecast of the event.
Veteran journalist and analyst Hamid Mir also tweeted on October 12 that PEMRA has “forced TV channels not to show” Fazl’s press conference. He said that the government was showing weakness by “imposing unannounced censorship” in Pakistan.
The incident is not the first of its kind as channels have been barred from airing press conferences or interviews of opposition leaders especially ever since the Imran Khan-led PTI government rose to power.
Asif Zardari, former Pakistani president, and Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of jailed former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, have faced similar restrictions.
“The current wave of censorship is not very current,” journalist Munizae Jahangir was quoted as saying by SAMAA.
“Unfortunately, this has been going on for a while,” Jahangir said. “I would even say that during the time of Nawaz Sharif it started even then.”
When asked if the government was behind it, Jahangir said, “If the government is not behind this current wave of censorship, then why is it still happening? It should stop.”
She pointed a finger at “undemocratic forces” for censorship in the media and added, “If you do have undemocratic forces influencing democracy, then you will see censorship in the media.”
