Pemra penalty on GEO not satisfactory: Khawaja Asif

Says ISI, defence ministry prepared to defend themselves in court against GEO's defamation notice.

KARACHI: The defence ministry expressed on Saturday its dissatisfaction with Pemra’s decision to impose a penalty and suspend  the licence of GEO News’ licence for 15 days, Express News reported.

“We reserve the right to appeal the decision,” Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said. He added that despite being declared guilty, the action taken against the channel was not stern enough.

Along with the suspension, the media regulatory body also imposed a fine of Rs10 million on Friday, the same day the broadcaster filed a Rs50 billion defamation notice against the country’s top spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the defence ministry and Pemra.

Asif further said that the ISI and the defence ministry were prepared to respond to Geo's notice and to defend themselves in court.