Peshawar, Quetta bar bodies join PBC call for MSR’s release

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar and Quetta bar associations on Monday joined the apex Pakistan Bar Council’s demand for an immediate release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, terming the prolonged detention of the Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief an attack on media freedom.

In a statement, the newly elected President of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA), Khalid Anwar Afridi, said: “Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman is being victimised for reporting the truth and raising his voice for justice and that was not acceptable to the rulers, which is reprehensible. Arrest and targeting the Editor-in-Chief of Jang/Geo Group is not an attack against a person but an attack against the people’s right to know.”

Afridi said the PHC Bar wholeheartedly endorsed thePakistan Bar Council’s statement and was glad that legal support was now also being provided to Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman by the bar itself.“We are confident that the courts will do justice because the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman is illegal and unconstitutional in a private property case,” he said.

Afridi continued: “For the first time, a senior and prominent journalist was arrested in a 34 years old case on an allegation based on speculation.” He reiterated the commitment that the PHC Bar stood with the Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief for speedy justice and was standing side-by-side with the journalist community.

He appealed to the chief justice of the Lahore High Court to take notice of the illegal detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, who has been under detention for the last 114 days. Separately, President Quetta Bar Association Asif Reki also condemned the detention of Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and termed it absolute high-handedness and sheer cruelty.

In a statement issued on Monday, Reki said the case about the property transaction dating back to 1986 against Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was a mala fide act.“It is also against the basic laws and Constitution to detain the veteran journalist in judicial remand for over 100 days and that the apex court should take notice of it.”

Reki emphasised that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was a prominent personality of the country and his unjustified detention showed the impression of the government’s revengeful act against him.

He said it would be unfair to keep the Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief in further detention and demanded from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and other institutions concerned to raise voice for his immediate release.

Similarly, Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of Balochistan Bar Council (BBC), Advocate Rahib Khan Buledi, strongly condemned what he called “illegal” detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

In a statement, Buledi said the NAB could not prove anything against the Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief despite the lapse of considerable time. He went on to say that the government wanted to suppress and gag the largest media group of the country through vindictive acts.

Buledi added Jang and Geo had played a key role in the restoration of an independent judiciary and strengthening of democracy in the country while maintaining the norms of independent and impartial journalism.

He demanded of the authorities concerned to withdraw the case against Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and ensure his immediate release.Earlier, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), during a meeting of its Executive Committee, had expressed serious concern over the March 12 arrest and detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman by the NAB.

In a press release issued on Sunday, the PBC termed the arrest of Jang /Geo Group Editor-in-Chief “a mala fide act”.“The Committee, on the motion of Mr Akhtar Hussain, expressed its serious concerns over unjustified arrest and detention of Editor-in-Chief of Jang/Geo Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman by the NAB and termed his arrest in a criminal matter pertaining to year 1986 a mala fide act,” the statement said.

“The Committee also requested its members Mr Abid Saqi, Syed Qalb-i-Hassan and Mr Tahir Nasrullah Warraich to attend future hearing of the case, as requested by many senior journalists, in order to show solidarity with the journalist community,” it added.

Saqi is the PBC’s vice chairperson, whereas Hasan and Warraich are the presidents of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA), respectively.

A Jang/Geo Media Group spokesperson had earlier explained that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s appearance before the NAB on the day of his arrest was in relation to a call-up notice for the verification of the complaint but he was instead detained.

“In doing so, a violation of the Islamabad High Court’s recent judgment against the NAB and a violation of the NAB’s own rules has been committed,” the spokesperson had said.