Pakistan’s media regulator blocks top news station

ISLAMABAD— Pakistan’s media regulators pulled the nation’s leading news channel off the air on Friday, the latest development in a spat between the broadcaster and the military’s powerful spy agency that has focused attention on media freedoms in the country.

Amnesty International decried the move against Geo News as a “politically motivated attack” targeting the network because of its perceived bias against the military.

The decision was announced by Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, which suspended Geo News for 15 days and imposed a fine of 10 million Pakistani rupees — roughly $100,000.

The Authority, acting on a com- plaint by the Ministry of Defence, said it “took a strong notice of violations committed by Geo News and unanimously decided to immediately suspend” the channel’s licence.

Geo stayed on the air for a few hours Friday, reporting the suspension and showing a graphic of the station’s logo wrapped in chains, before the signal was cut. Viewers then saw a blank screen with the message: “The license of Geo News has been suspended by PEMRA, therefore the broadcast has been terminated.”

The move is the latest challenge for the media company after an assassination attempt against its top news anchor, Hamid Mir, on April 19. Mir survived six gunshot wounds to the stomach and legs during the attack in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city.