PECA Ordinance: JAC walks out of meeting with information ministry

Joint Action Committee says information minister toying with media fraternity

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The media Joint Action Committee (JAC) on Monday walked out of the meeting with the Information Ministry, calling the engagement a farce.

The JAC comprising All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) and Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND) announced that all discussions were being suspended until the "draconian amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) are reversed."

According to a statement, the JAC said that the "information minister is toying with the media fraternity in the guise of engagement and keeps passing ordinances against freedom of speech while giving the impression that media fraternity is being engaged."

The statement also said that there is "a grave trail of examples where the ministry of information is tampering with freedom of speech, muzzling the journalists  right to report, and financially crippling the media to influence journalism."

“The fraternity had warned of this before and appealed to the PM previously as well that a dangerous trend had been emerging which is creating a distance between the Government and the Public as well as the media workers,” the statement said.

All media bodies stand united to defend freedom of expression and people’s right to information, it added.