Pakistan’s media regulator has banned broadcasts of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speeches and police have served the ousted prime minister with another court summons, authorities said Monday.
The move is the continuation of a political tug-of-war between the former cricket star turned Islamist politician and the government of his successor, Shahbaz Sharif, as Khan campaigns for early elections.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority ban was imposed on Sunday and took effect on Monday. Covers broadcast of Khan’s live and recorded speecheswho was ousted in a vote of no confidence in Parliament in April 2022. The ban followed a particularly fiery speech by Khan, who has a large following, harshly criticizing Sharif’s government and the country’s all-powerful army.
Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, now in opposition, denounced the ban.. Fawad Chaudhry, one of the party’s top leaders, told Associated Press that the move reflects the government’s “nervousness and fear” that Khan’s party would win the upcoming elections in two provincial assemblies.
The media regulator said it imposed the ban because of what it described as Khan’s baseless accusations against state authorities and institutions, a reference usually used for the armed forces. He said that Khan was spreading hatred “against state institutions and officials, which is detrimental to the maintenance of law and order”.
A violation of the ban by any media outlet would result in its license being revoked, the regulator said. Hours later, the private ARY television channel was taken off the air to broadcast Khan’s speech on Sunday. Host of rival television station Geo, Hamid Mir, a strong voice in support of media freedom and a victim of state-controlled censorship in recent years, criticized the move.
Early Sunday, police arrived at Khan’s home in the city of Lahore with a warrant for his arrest. on suspicions that he had avoided appearing in court on charges of illegally selling state gifts he had received as prime minister and concealing assets from the electoral court.
However, Khan’s aides told police he was at his other home, in the capital Islamabad. After the officers left the premises, Khan appeared outside the residence and delivered the speech cited for the ban. He spoke on camera, accusing an unnamed army general of leading the arrests of his party leaders in recent months.
Khan, 70, has faced a series of charges from the Sharif government, with several lawsuits launched against him. Last week marked his first appearance in court since a gunman shot him in the leg during a protest rally in November. He was responding to subpoenas for corruption charges in a separate case against him.
After appearing in court in Islamabad last Tuesday, the judge approved bail in Khan’s case, months after police filed terrorism charges against him for allegedly inciting people to violence. The bond exempts you from appearing in court until the trial begins.
Khan has denied any wrongdoing and blames the Sharif government for conspiring with the United States to overthrow him. He has offered no evidence for his claims, and Washington and Sharif have denied the allegations.
In October, an electoral court barred Khan from holding public office and stripped him of his seat in the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament.
Also on Sunday, Khan wrote to the country’s Supreme Court requesting that he be allowed to appear in court via video links, allegedly due to threats on his life. On appeal, Khan said there were 74 cases pending against him in various courts and that having to appear in person would put him in further danger.
The standoff between the Khan government and Sharif has rocked Pakistan as it wrestles with a severe economic crisis. The country is currently in talks with the International Monetary Fund about how to revive a bailout program that was originally agreed upon in 2019, when Khan was in power.
(with information from AP)
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Source-www.infobae.com