Rights group slams Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s continued detention

LAHORE: Human Rights Society of Pakistan Chairman Dr S M Zafar on Thursday slammed the continued detention of Jang-Geo Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman over trumped up charges in a property case.

Dr Zafar said MSR’s prolonged detention seems baseless in the matter being probed by the National Accountability Bureau. He called the arrest a violation of human dignity, adding the group’s owner, Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman, and his son, MSR, have upheld the law and made an indelible mark on journalism. Dr Zafar noted the NAB could not deny the statement recorded by MSR.

Meanwhile, in Multan, a protest camp has been erected outside the Jang office where journalists and trade organisation members have held protests calling for MSR’s immediate release. President of the Traders’ Union, Chaudhry M Hanif, described the arrest as nothing but an act of political vengeance. On Tuesday, an accountability court hearing the private property reference against MSR had extended his physical remand till April 18. The decision came on the heels of a Lahore High Court verdict turning down a plea against the veteran journalist’s arrest.

The NAB had on March 12 arrested MSR in connection with property allegedly bought illegally from a government entity more than three decades ago. Rights groups and local and international journalists’ bodies have slammed the arrest as an attempt to muzzle the press and silence dissent by a heavy-handed regime that bears little regard for press freedoms.