APNS expresses concern over arrest of Inam Akbar

ISLAMABAD: All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) has expressed concern over the cancellation of bail and arrest of Inam Akbar, Chief Executive, Midas Group, by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) authorities.

The APNS president Sarmad Ali, and secretary general Umer Mujib Shami said in a press release that it was a shocking news for print media that the NAB authorities on Tuesday arrested one of the major leaders of the advertising industry who has contributed significantly towards the revenue of print media. Earlier, they said, highly respected advertising practitioners and the most senior professionals were arrested on the charges of alleged corruption and are kept in prison for the last three months.

“The APNS office bearers without going into the merit and demerit of the case strongly believe that the arrest of Inam Akbar, Gulzar Ali, Salman Mansoor, Masood Hashmi and other advertising practitioners tantamount to damaging the advertising sector which is an integral part of the media industry,” said the statement.

It said that these advertising practitioners had released advertisements on the instruction of the Sindh Information Department as per routine procedures prevailing in the country and if there were any malpractices on part of the releasing authority, the advertising agencies should not be made responsible for such acts. The APNS office bearers demanded immediate release of advertising practitioners.

The NAB on Tuesday arrested Inam Akbar outside the Supreme Court after his bail was rejected by a three-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa. Inam Akbar is one of the accused in a corruption case of Rs5.76 billion pertaining to illegal awarding of government advertising contracts at exorbitant rates.