Bilawal, Shehbaz condemn arrest of Jang Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman

ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday condemned the arrest of Jang Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The allegations against the Jang Group CEO are related to a property allegedly bought illegally by him 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.

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 the press. He said that the prime minister was trying to snatch away people's freedom of expression through threats and coercion.

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

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

Shehbaz said that the media was being suppressed for the past 18 years. He said that a government that was on a downward trajectory always attacked the media and political opponents.

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 expresses 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.