Pakistani State of Emergency, 2007 - Ban On Media

Ban On Media

With the imposition of emergency a media blackout followed. National channels like ARY One World, GEO TV, Aaj tv and other channels were also blocked. General Musharraf maintained that these channels were creating discord, misrepresenting facts, were not responsible, and were contributing to the instability of the nation. The Government also cracked down on international channels like BBC and CNN. ARY reported that authorities in Dubai had asked the network’s administration to close down its operations. The network said no reason had been given for the move.

The government expelled three journalists from the British news paper the Daily Telegraph after calling general Musharraf "our son of a bitch". This is an allusion to Franklin D. Roosevelt's defence of Nicaragua's heavy-handed but U.S.-backed dictator, Anastasio Somoza García. However this is still viewed as an extremely severe insult in Pakistan.

On 21 November 2007 two thousand detainees under the Emergency were released, but 3,000 remained in detention, according to London's Metro newspaper. Musharraf’s Govt. also arrested moderate groups of society such as human rights activists and lawyers..

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