Dubai acts as beacon of freedom for Pakistan

Private Pakistani television channels are continuing to broadcast from Dubai as strict media curbs take hold under President Pervez Musharraf’s state of emergency.

The military ruler on Saturday suspended Pakistan’s constitution, sacked the chief justice and imposed a blackout on domestic media networks.

Pakistan’s Electronic Media Regulating Authority (PEMRA) issued an order banning the media from making any reports “that defame or bring into ridicule’ Musharraf, his administration or the military. Cable operators pulled the plug on domestic and international channels including the BBC, CNN and Fox News, leaving just the state-run Pakistan Television free to broadcast.

Editors violating the order face up to a year in jail or a 5 million rupee ($83,000) fine. Local television channels and newspapers said phone lines had been cut, broadcasts interfered with, and broadcasting equipment confiscated.

The Internet has so far been spared, along with some newspapers, however in a country with high illiteracy rates most people turn to the TV or radio for news. Gulf News yesterday spoke to Dubai-based Pakistanis who said family and friends were turning to the UAE for home news.

Journalist Tahir Muneer told the newspaper ""It is for the first time that people from Pakistan are calling us to know the situation in Pakistan".

According to Associated Press of Pakistan, minister for information and broadcasting Tariq Azeem said today TV channels would be restored once a code of ethics had been finalised. Azeem said channels had misused unprecedented freedom enjoyed under Musharraf’s rule.

Several channels, including ARY Television and GEO TV, avoid government interference by broadcasting from Dubai.

During the crisis GEO has created a live audio stream which many Pakistani blogs and Western news sources are using to keep track of the situation. It can be accessed via satellite radio and broadband connections.