FM-103 radio staff members were granted bail by a Cantt area court on Saturday morning. Telephone operator Noman Ahmed and computer operator Abdul Ghafoor were arrested on Friday when police raided the FM-103 Lahore office and stopped its transmissions. The police confiscated computers and a mixer and sealed the office.
| "No! Not the mixer!... Oh, Gawd! They took the blender, too!... And the Cuisinart!" |
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, the FM management —Shafqatullah, Imran Riaz and Afaq Bokhari — said the incident went against the government's claim of a free press and damaged Pakistan's image. "We are yet to receive a written order from a competent authority, neither have we been told why our transmission was suspended," said Mr Shafqatullah. "Even the Information Department and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) don't know."
| Because they aren't the 'competent authority'. |
The police said on Friday they had taken the action in connection with a case registered under MPO-16 on November 9, when two other staff members, Afaq Bokhari and Farhat Abbas Shah, were arrested. According to the case, five men demonstrated on The Mall shouting slogans against the government, government hospitals and doctors. However, FM-103 authorities denied the radio station was involved. "Nobody held any demonstration. We broadcast reports against the Punjab Institute of Cardiology and are holding an internal inquiry into the reports," they said.
| They were shut down because they protested a bunch of ... cardiologists? |
About reports the radio station was sealed because it was broadcasting BBC Urdu Service news bulletins, they said FM-103 had stopped doing so when ordered to by a court. However, they added, "We have a constitutional right to broadcast the bulletins. Our mouthpieces lawyers are dealing with the matter." They denied the broadcasts were against PEMRA rules. "The rules stop us from broadcasting news that could harm the national interest. We did not harm the national interest."
| He's got a point, the BBC is on the side of the jihadis. |
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