On the recommendations of the Council of Complaints (CoC), Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has banned analyst Hafeezullah Niazi from appearing on any television channel for 30 days, Daily Times reported.
According to the details, Niazi, who is also the brother-in-law of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, in a programme on Geo News on July 6 had levelled allegations against Senator Azam Swati, which could not be substantiated before the CoC.
“PM Imran’s own relatives told that this man [Swati] was involved in the biggest insurance fraud in the United States (US) and he is banned from entering the country due to this,” the analyst had alleged.
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A press release issued by PEMRA in this regard said that Geo News had been provided “sufficient time” to “prove the veracity of comments uttered by the said analyst”, however, the channel could not come up with a satisfactory reply.
The channel has been ordered to tender an apology within seven days for airing “baseless and defamatory” comments and violating PEMRA’s Electronic Media Code of Conduct.
In case of non-compliance, it will be liable to pay a fine of Rs 1 million.
Meanwhile, senior journalists and analysts have stood up in Niazi’s support, saying that bars on their colleagues “only exposes the government’s crackdown on freedom of expression”.
