Bilawal, Shehbaz condemn Jang Group/Geo Editor-in-Chief's arrest

ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif, on Thursday condemned Jang Group/Geo's Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakilur Rehman's arrest by the National Accountability Burea (NAB). 

The allegations against the Jang Group CEO is related to a property he allegedly bought illegally from a Government entity more than 34 years ago. The property, in fact, was bought from a private party and all evidence of this was provided to NAB including the legal requirements that were fulfilled such as the payment of duty and taxes. 

Read more: Editor-in-chief of largest media group in Pakistan arrested by government over a fake case

Bilawal's spokesperson, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said,"We have been pointing out NAB's attitude of exacting political revenge since day one," he said. "Imran Khan is using NAB to target people he does not like."

He said that NAB arresting the Editor-in-Chief of the largest media group in Pakistan was an attack on freedom of press. He said that the prime minister was trying to snatch freedom of expression through threats and coercion. 

Khokhar demanded the immediate release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman. 

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif said media was the fourth pillar of the state which "fascist rulers" were trying to destroy. "We can smell revenge from Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman's arrest," he said. 

Shehbaz said that the media was being suppressed over the past 18 years. He said that a government which was going down always attacked the media and political opponents. 

HRCP expresses "deep concern" over Jang Group/Geo Editor-in-Chief's arrest

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed its "deep concern" over the arrest of Jang Group/Geo's Edior-in-Chief. 

"HRCP is deeply concerned at the arrest of Mir Shakil ur Rehman, Editor-in-Chief of the #Jang/Geo group by NAB, on a 34-year-old property-related matter. There remains a strong suspicion that such actions by NAB are selective, arbitrary and politically motivated," tweeted the commission. 

"The journalist community sees this as yet another attempt to gag a beleaguered independent press. HRCP demands that the government should immediately take steps to address this issue and prove its commitment to #pressfreedom," it stated further. 

Asif Zardari condemns Jang CEO's arrest 

The NAB has become a weapon of political engineering, former president Asif Ali Zardari said, while condemning Rehman's arrest.

"Selected leaders are cowards and have small minds," Zardari said, adding: "Attack on free media is a move that weakens democracy."

CPNE expresses 'great concern'

President CPNE (Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors) Arif Nizami has expressed great concern that a senior and prominent member of the editors and publishers’ fraternity, Rahman, was arrested in Lahore by the NAB at its premises where he appeared for the second time to answer the accountability watchdog’s queries regarding a property that he purchased 34 years ago.

"For the NAB to arrest Mr Rahman at this initial stage of the investigation is uncalled for and is another example of what the Islamabad High Court observed last week about NAB’s practice of arresting individuals without enough proof only to cause harm to their reputations," the president said in a statement.

"In a media environment where there is rampant self-censorship fueled by the threat of advertisement curtailment coupled with broadcast and circulation disruption, this arrest will be viewed as an extension to the government’s regressive and unconstitutional media policy," he said.

"While it is up to the courts to decide on the merits of the case, the manner in which this arrest has taken place paints a bleak picture of the future of media freedom in the country," he added.