Pakistan’s anti-graft body arrests Geo News owner Mir Shakil-ur Rehman

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN -Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday arrested Editor-In-Chief of Jang and Geo Media Group Mir Shakil-ur Rehman in connection with a case pertaining to the purchase of a 54-kanal piece of land 34 years ago.

Rahman appeared before the NAB’s investigation team in Lahore on Thursday but reportedly failed to give satisfactory answers to the questions, following which he was arrested.

Rahman will be produced before an accountability court by the NAB on Friday to seek his physical remand as per a report by ARY News.

Meanwhile, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif have condemned Rehman’s arrest, with the latter saying that he “can smell revenge” in the action.

Geo News quoted Bilawal’s spokesperson Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar as saying, “We have been pointing out NAB’s attitude of exacting political revenge since day one. Imran Khan is using NAB to target people he does not like.”

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed its “deep concern” over the arrest, saying that there remains a strong suspicion that “such actions by NAB are selective, arbitrary and politically motivated.”

“The journalist community sees this as yet another attempt to gag a beleaguered independent press. HRCP demands that the government should immediately take steps to address this issue and prove its commitment to #pressfreedom,’ the HRCP tweeted.