Protest continues against arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman

PESHAWAR: The media workers of the Jang/Geo Group continued the protest on Friday against the arrest of their Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

Carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans in favour of their demands, the protesters demanded the immediate release of Mir Shakil and withdrawal of cases against him.

The participants deplored that the Lahore High Court had rejected the bail application of Mir Shakil who had been detained in a 34 years old property case for which all legal requirements had been fulfilled.

They quoted constitutional experts who had stated that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had no justification to detain a citizen in a property case but Mir Shakil had been held for the last 121 days even without proving a single case of corruption against him.

The speakers criticized the government-NAB nexus posing a question as to what would be the justification for detaining Mir Shakil if the court decided the case in his favour. They appealed to the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take notice of the ongoing injustices with the editor-in-chief of the largest media group of the country.

The speakers including the senior journalists Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Shah Zaman, Imdad Ali Qazalbash and others observed that the prolong detention of Mir Shakil had created unrest and disappointment among the workers. They said the rulers were living in a fool’s paradise if they thought they could suppress the voice of the independent media through such tactics.

The speakers resolved to continue performing duty and reporting the truth. They said they had rendered sacrifices in the past and would do so in future as well and continue the protest till the acceptance of their demands.