Jang Geo Media Group editor-in-chief 'will be proved innocent': PML-Q president

LAHORE: PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said on Tuesday that he is sure that Jang Geo Media Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman will be proved innocent and released from National Accountability Bureau's custody.

Hussain said he had gone through the case filed against MSR, who was detained by the anti-graft watchdog on March 12 in relation to a property he had purchased from a private party 34 years ago.

In a statement, the PML-Q president said: "I have read NAB's case against Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

"I'm sure that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman will be proved innocent and acquitted."

Earlier, a spokesperson for the Jang Geo Media Group had said that MSR's appearance before NAB on the day of the arrest was in a relation to a call-up notice for the verification of the complaint but an arrest was made.

The spokesperson said that in doing so, a violation of the Islamabad High Court's recent judgment against NAB and moreover a violation of NAB's own rules has been committed.

'Threatening a shutdown'

"In the past 18 months, NAB has sent our reporters, producers, and editors — directly and indirectly — over a dozen notices, threatening a shutdown of our channels (via PEMRA) due to our reporting and our programmes on NAB," the spokesperson had added.

"In its defence, NAB has in writing said it is a constitutionally protected institution that cannot be criticised. NAB has also, through several means, tried to persuade the group to step back, to stop stories, among other measures in its favour at the expense of the full truth.

"The Group will not stop any reporters, producers or anchors from any story that is on merit and at the same time will include NAB’s version. In this case, NAB denies all allegations above and claims they are independently pursuing all cases and have not been asked to do by the democratically elected government in Islamabad," the spokesperson had noted.

'Noted with concern'

Condemnations over MSR's arrest by the NAB had poured in from all around the world, as various local and global rights bodies, international media watchdogs, journalists, renowned publications around the world, and artists slammed the growing curbs on the Pakistani press.

In fact, the US Department of State had said Friday it was concerned over MSR's arrest.

In a statement, Alice G. Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at the State Department's Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA), had said the US foreign ministry has "noted with concern the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman, the owner of a leading media company in #Pakistan".

"Press freedom, due process, and the rule of law are pillars of every democracy," Wells had added.