ISLAMABAD: A Karachi court on Thursday ordered the release of Ammad Yousaf, the news director at ARY News, the channel confirmed, while the Sindh High Court (SHC) directed Pakistan’s media regulator and cable operators to restore the channel’s transmission immediately.
ARY was taken off air on Monday night after Dr Shahbaz Gill, a close aide to ex-premier Imran Khan, made comments during a news bulletin in which he advised military personnel not to follow orders of their top officials if they were “against the sentiments of the masses.”
Pakistan’s media regulator said the remarks amounted to inciting mutiny within the army, and ARY was pulled off air. Gill was arrested on Tuesday afternoon in Islamabad and subsequently remanded in police custody for two days. Yousaf, the ARY executive, was picked up from his home in Karachi in the early hours of Wednesday.
“Victory of truth and righteous: case against head of news ARY Ammad Yousaf was dismissed,” ARY News said in a statement, announcing the executive’s release.
Meanwhile, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported the Sindh High Court had directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and cable operators to immediately restore ARY News’ transmission.
The channel was still off air as of Thursday afternoon.
In its show-cause notice to ARY News on Monday night, PEMRA said Gill had made “highly hateful and seditious comments” which amounted to inciting the armed forces to rebel against their leaders.
“Airing of such content on your news channel shows either weak editorial control on the content or the licensee is intentionally indulged in providing its platform to such individual who intent to spread malice and hatred against the state institutions for their vested interests,” the notice to the channel read, saying this was against the country’s constitution.