One Free Press Coalition urges Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s immediate release

KARACHI: The One Free Press Coalition has called for the immediate release of Jang-Geo Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and a number of other imprisoned journalists “in light of the threat posed by the coronavirus, their freedom is now a matter of life or death”.

The Editor-in-Chief has been featured in the One Free Press Coalition’s “10 Most Urgent” list — ranked in order of urgency — calling attention to the most pressing cases of journalists under attack for pursuing the truth ahead of World Press Freedom day (today).

The coalition comprises prestigious international news bodies like TIME magazine, CNN, The New York Times, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Forbes, Bloomberg and many others. In its 15th list, released on Friday, the coalition said: “The #FreeThePress campaign and World Press Freedom Day (Sunday, May 3) call for the immediate release of all jailed journalists. In light of the threat posed by coronavirus, their freedom is now a matter of life or death.” Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman features on number eight of the list, under the title “To silence criticism of pandemic preparedness, government targets broadcast outlet and its CEO”. The coalition says: “The CEO, owner and editor-in-chief of Jang Media Group, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, was arrested March 12 over a case involving allegations that he illegally acquired land in 1986.

“The next day, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority ordered cable distributors throughout the country to stop transmitting Geo TV, which is owned by Jang Media Group and is the nation’s largest TV news channel, or move its broadcasts to a higher, harder-to-find channel. Despite no charges filed, Shakil-ur-Rehman was denied bail on April 7. The channel has criticized the government’s coronavirus preparations.” Other journalists on the list were Kyrgyz Azimjon Askarov, Abdulkhaleq Amran, Akram al-Waleedi, Hareth Hameed and Tawfiq al-Mansouri (Yemen), Mahmoud al-Jaziri (Bahrain), Solafa Magdy (Egypt), Darvinson Rojas (Venezuela), Truong Duy Nhat (Vietnam), Elena Milashina (Russia) and Yayesew Shimelis (Ethiopia). It also called for justice for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.