Demand for release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman renewed

PESHAWAR: The Jang/Geo Group workers renewed the demand for the release of their Editor-in-Chief, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, as they continued to protest his illegal detention here on Monday.

They were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans which sought the release of Mir Shakil and withdrawal of cases against him. The protesters chanted slogans against the government and National Accountability Bureau (NAB). They said the owner of the biggest media group of the country had been behind bars for the last 124 days without any crime to put pressure on his group. The protesters said legal and constitutional experts had said the NAB had no justification to detain a citizen in a 34 years old property case.

The speakers recalled that Mir Shakil had been arrested despite the fact that he was cooperating with the NAB. Senior journalists, including Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Shah Zaman, Imdad Ali Qazalbash and others said the government should have conducted the accountability of those involved in the mega corruption scandals. They said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was being victimised to punish the Jang/Geo Media Group for reporting the truth and practising independent journalism. The speakers said the media would continue to perform its duty and highlight the truth and corruption of the rulers despite all such pressure tactics.

They appealed to the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take notice of the situation and provide justice to the head of the major media group and its workers.