Gretchen Peters, ABC, November 4, 2007
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — As Pakistanis awoke Sunday to a strict new political reality, the most visible sign of emergency rule was the harsh clampdown on the private media.
Pakistan’s Electronic Media Regulating Authority (PEMRA) issued an order that bans the media from making any reports “that defame or bring into ridicule” President Pervez Musharraf, his administration or the military.
Any editor who violates the order can face up to a year in jail or a 5 million rupee fine ($83,000).
In a speech to the nation on Saturday night, Musharraf said he invoked emergency powers in a bid to control a pro-Taliban insurgency that’s spinning out of control here. But immediate actions by his government instead appeared to target the media, opposition politicians and the judiciary.
About half a dozen judges were arrested after they refused to take oath under his new regime. Meanwhile scores of human rights activists, lawyers and pro-democracy agitators were put under house arrest, according to local news reports.