PEMRA bans speeches of 'proclaimed offenders' following Nawaz’s ‘fiery speeches’

Media regulatory body warns action if a licensee fails to comply with the directives

Days after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s fiery speeches from London, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on Thursday banned broadcast and rebroadcast of any speech, interview or public address of absconders or proclaimed offenders.

The regulatory body in a statement — a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune — prohibited the broadcasting of content including commentary, opinions or suggestions about the potential fate of sub-judice matter which tends to prejudice the determination by a court and a tribunal in compliance with the order passed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

"If licensee fails to comply with the aforementioned directives, the authority shall take action under Section 29 and 30 of PEMRA Ordinance which may result in imposition of fine and suspension/revocation of licence," it added.

The decision comes at a time when Nawaz Sharif — who left for London late last year after securing bail for medical treatment in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case and the Al Azizia reference — has been targeting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government as well as many state institutions including judiciary and the military.

Nawaz, the three-time prime minister, broke his long silence during the PPP-hosted multiparty conference on September 20, taking his vote ko izzat dau mantra to the next level by declaring that the opposition was up not against Prime Minister Imran Khan but against those who had brought him into power in the 2018 elections.

The PML-N supreme leader pledged that his party would endorse whatever course of action the grand huddle decided.

He urged the APC participants to shift away from traditional politics and hammer out a decisive course of action to bring about a real change.

Ever since Nawaz Sharif has been regularly making speeches which have been broadcasted live on social as well as traditional media. His daughter and PML-N's vice-president Maryam Nawaz has also been featuring regularly on both mediums, mostly towing her father's hard stance.

The Supreme Court, on July 28, 2017 had disqualified Nawaz in the Panama Papers case and ordered the NAB to file separate cases which were respectively called Avenfiled, Al-Azizia and Flagship references.