PEMRA employees will be provided full security, PM, COAS assure Absar Alam

ISLAMABAD: The offices of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mohammad Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa have taken notice of the threats to Pakistan Electronic Media Authority (PEMRA) employees and contacted its Chairman Absar Alam assuring him full support in this regard.

Pemra Chairman Alam shared this information during the Regional General Managers (RGM) conference held at the authority’s headquarters here on Thursday, said a press release.

He said that the offices have further conveyed that strict action will be taken against those who are creating hurdles in establishing the writ of PEMRA.

This is a welcome step and investigations are already underway, the Pemra Chairman told the meeting.

Alam had addressed a press conference on May 8, 2017 and had revealed about the threats to the employees of the electronic media regulator.

In that press conference, he had also appealed to the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of Pakistan and Chief of Army Staff to provide security to the staff of Pemra.

He had claimed that the lives of Pemra employees and their families are in danger.

Chairman Pemra also played an audio file during the press conference, which was allegedly of a blackmailer.

During the phone call, the unknown blackmailer addressed the chairman asking him why he blocked a certain TV channel.

The blackmailer made strong threats, saying if the said channel wasn’t restored within a short time then the authority’s in charge should not complain of the consequences.