Maryam Nawaz disappointed over Jang Group/Geo Editor-in-Chief's arrest

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Thursday condemned the arrest of Jang Group/Geo Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman's arrest.

Speaking to media, Maryam said that it was obvious from the Jang Group CEO's arrest that the government feared truth will come out in front of the masses. "You [government] are arresting the owner of a media house," she said. "This may stop the news but it will not stop the truth."

This was the first time Maryam was speaking to media after she was granted bail from the Lahore High Court in November 2019.

“There is a ban on airing me on media […] my sympathies are with the media as they have never been in such a bad condition,” she said.

“I was quite because of personal reasons,” she said, adding: “I will speak and you will find me in the front rows when the party leadership asks me to do so.”

She refuted reports about her father delaying his operation as she was not by his side in London.

“They say that my brothers are over there, yes they are over there and are looking after him, but we only have one father. I wish to be by his side during his operation. This is a legal wish and it shouldn’t be politicised, the PML-N leader said.

“One of Nawaz Sharif’s vein is 80-90% blocked which will soon be operated on,” she said. “If I am permitted to go abroad it is fine, otherwise I will ask Mian sahab to get his operation done as quickly as possible.”

'A dark day for freedom of press'

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that today was a dark day for freedom of press and democracy in the country. "This attack on journalism will be your last day," he said. "This does not happen in dictatorships around the world what you have done today."

He said that NAB was a source of coercing politicians and committing political engineering. He said that it was disappointing that the case in which he was arrested was 34 years old.

"What was the need to arrest him? It [the arrest] was just to show that whosoever talks will be arrested," he said. "Imran Khan, we are not afraid of you. NAB, we are not afraid of you," he added.

The former prime minister said that Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman had been arrested as Jang and Geo used to expose NAB. "He [Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman] will be released from captivity but those who had him arrested will not remain in power," he said.

He slammed the government for resorting to such tactics at a time when the entire country was struggling to grapple with the coronavirus infection. Abbasi said that if NAB was truthful and not lying, then the trial of the Jang Group/Geo Editor-in-Chief should be made available for all to see.