Sending MSR to jail a bid to suppress truth: Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday said that sending Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman to jail is government’s message to the media that if you air the truth then the same fate awaits you.

NAB had on Thursday arrested the editor-in-chief of the Jang Geo Media Group in connection with property allegedly bought illegally from a government entity more than 34 years ago.

“The government is so obsessed with the media that it has used every tactic to put curbs on it,” he said. Abbasi said that this is not only applicable to Mir-Shakeel-ur-Rahman and that the overall situation of the media is bad.

“His (MSR) newspaper portrays the truth. They tried to pressurise him to stop him from telling the truth. And when they failed, the government made a fake case against him,” he said.

“They (government) cannot bear criticism. All of you must have seen that they have shifted GEO News to the last numbers (on cable TV)," he said.

“What happened the day before yesterday (Thursday), I believe is the darkest chapter in the history of Pakistan’s democracy,” he noted.

The former premier vowed that in these times of distress he would stand with the media fraternity.

Shedding light on the cases made against the PML-N leadership he said: “Imran Khan has not been able to prove corruption against us, even after 1.5 years of PTI-led government.”

“They cannot scare the PML-N by putting its leadership behind bars,” he added.

‘War of fascism and democracy’

Former federal minister Ahsan Iqbal said that today there is a war between "fascism and democracy" in the country and the government has opted for the former.

“We cannot bear to lose this war, we have to win it for our future generations,” he said.

“The enemies of Pakistan have invested in Imran Khan and through that investment, he was imposed on the people of Pakistan,” he noted, adding: “Everyone has seen that in 1.5 years he has ruined every sector of the country.”

The PML-N leader said that if things move forward in the same way then the "country's atomic power might be in danger".

“The attack on media is intolerable. All the democratic powers will put their weight behind the media,” he said.

“Today thousands of journalists are unemployed because the incumbent government wants to suppress the voice of media,” he added.

Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman arrested

The NAB on Thursday arrested MSR in connection with property allegedly bought illegally from a government entity more than 34 years ago.

The property was in fact bought from a private party 34 years ago and all evidence of this was given to NAB and legal requirements fulfilled, such as payment of duty and taxes.

According to the Group's spokesperson, MSR's appearance before NAB was in relation to a call-up notice for the verification of the complaint, yet he was arrested.

An accountability court on Friday gave a 12-day physical remand of MSR after he was presented in court.