11 September 2001
MUSHARRAF REGIME USES BLASPHEMY LAWS TO SILENCE MEDIA
The regime of General Pervez Musharraf has been actively invoking controversial blasphemy laws to restrict press freedom, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters sans frontières (RSF) and the World Association of Newspapers (WAN).
The latest incident occurred last week when authorities ordered "Newsweek" to censor an article from its 3 September 2001 issue after the US magazine reported on a controversy involving a professor who faces the death penalty for allegedly committing blasphemy, according to CPJ.
On 1 September, officials from the Press Information Department told the magazine's local distributor Liberty Books that it would not be allowed to distribute copies until it removed the article. The department said "the article's subject matter is objectionable and may spark violence, adding that the decision has been taken in the public interest" and "the magazine itself has not been banned," notes RSF.
The article, "Talking is Dangerous", reported on the prosecution of Shaikh Muhammed Younus, who has been charged with insulting Islam's prophet Muhammad in front of his students, according to CPJ. RSF adds that Younus had apparently taught his students that Mohammad was not a Muslim until he was 40 years old.
"By censoring an article that spotlights threats to free speech in Pakistan, authorities only bolster their country's reputation for intolerance," comments CPJ.
CPJ points out that earlier this year, blasphemy laws were invoked on two occasions to shut down local newspapers. On 3 June 2001, officials in the town of Abbottabad closed down the offices of the newspaper "Mohasib" after it published an article which disagreed with certain Muslim clerics that only good Muslims wore beards, among other criticisms.
On 29 January, the "Frontier Post" had its offices in Peshawar shut down and five of its journalists arrested after it printed a letter to the editor which contained content deemed offensive to Muhammad, according to CPJ." "Newsweek" is the first foreign publication to be censored since Musharraf took power.
For more information, see www.rsf.org, www.cpj.org and www.wan-press.org. ">http://www.rsf.org">www.rsf.org, www.cpj.org and www.wan-press.org.
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