LAHORE: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has strongly rejected the allegations of high treason levelled against him in a petition pending adjudication before the Lahore High Court and maintained that “the act of sedition is even unthinkable for me”.

Though Mr Sharif did not attend Monday’s hearing of the petition by a full bench, his counsel Naseer Ahmad Bhutta submitted a written reply and told the judges that his client was due to appear in trial proceedings before an accountability court of Islamabad. Moreover, he said he took an impression at the last hearing as if Mr Sharif was supposed to appear before the court for once.

However, Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, who heads the bench, said that if this was the case the other respondents, including former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Dawn journalist Cyril Almeida, would not be present in the court. He directed the counsel to file an application if Mr Sharif wanted to seek exemption from personal appearance and the court would look into it as per the law.

Appreciating the conduct of Mr Abbasi, Justice Naqvi said on a lighter note that the former’s frequent appearances before the LHC benefited him a lot as the people of Lahore had elected him to the National Assembly in a recent by-poll.

LHC asks petitioner to come up with arguments on maintainability of petition levelling sedition charges against two ex-PMs, Dawnjournalist Cyril Almeida

“I also like to appear before courts,” responded Mr Abbasi.

“You may become prime minister again if you keep visiting the court,” Justice Chaudhry Masood Jahangir, a member of the bench, told Mr Abbasi.

Lawyers for Mr Abbasi and Mr Almeida submitted written replies to the court. The cabinet division secretary and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority also filed their replies.

The counsel for the petitioner pointed out that Mr Almeida had in his reply only said that he wrot what Mr Sharif told him in the interview.

“What else a journalist should say?” Justice Naqvi asked the counsel.

The court adjourned further hearing till Nov 12 and directed the counsel for the petitioner to come up with arguments on maintainability of the petition.

Besides questioning the maintainability of the petition, Mr Sharif in his reply argued how a person, who had made the defence of the country unconquerable, could be a traitor? Being a three-time prime minister he was fully conversant with the challenges faced by the country, its army and law enforcement agencies, he stated.

“If people of Pakistan who put their trust in my party and made me prime minister three times are also traitor,” Mr Sharif stated, adding that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz also secured maximum votes in the recently held by-polls.

The former premier stated neither the whole nation nor state institutions could find out the alleged treason committed by him except the one who had filed the petition. “Does the petitioner also know the whereabouts of the dictator who is facing proceedings under Article 6 for abrogating the Constitution of this country?” Mr Sharif asked.

He stated he had nothing to do with the protocol, if any, provided to journalist Cyril Almeida at Multan airport. He denied having discussed the minutes of a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) with then prime minister Abbasi.

Refuting the allegation of sedition by the petitioner, Mr Sharif maintained that he never uttered any seditious remarks or gave any anti-state interview. He argued that under the High Treason (Punishment) Act 1973, proceedings can take place only on a complaint by the federal government, which has exclusive discretion in the matter.

Mr Sharif requested the court to dismiss the petition for being not maintainable.

In his reply, Mr Abbasi rejected the allegations of violating the oath of office of the prime minister in any manner. He also dismissed the allegation of discussing the minutes of the NSC meeting with Mr Sharif.

Filed through Advocate Ahmad Rauf, Mr Almeida stated in his reply that he had written verbatim the words of Mr Sharif, which had been quoted. He stated the news article was published in good faith on a matter of general public interest and the words were quoted verbatim.

He rejected the allegation of being taken to Multan airport in a special plane or given any protocol, explaining he travelled to the city by road from Islamabad for the purpose of covering the pre-election situation in southern Punjab.

“The petitioner has taken one statement out of context while ignoring the entire news article which includes rather important public interest statements and has to be read as a whole,” he added.

The reply stated Mr Almeida “is a patriotic journalist who has been writing in the daily Dawn on matters of public importance for years and is under a constitutional duty to apprise the nation of the views of their public leaders”.

Mr Almeida told the court that he was “neither a necessary nor proper party” in the case and requested it to dismiss the petition.

Dawn

KARACHI: The Amnesty International and Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) have expressed concern over the issuance of arrest warrants for journalist Cyril Almeida.

In a press release issued on Thursday, the Amnesty called upon the authorities in Pakistan to ensure that the criminal justice system is not used to harass or intimidate journalists.

Mr Almeida, an assistant editor at Dawn, has been summoned by the Lahore High Court over an interview he conducted of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Mr Sharif is facing charges of treason for alleging in the interview that Pakistan-based militants had carried out the 2008 attacks in Mumbai.

“Cyril Almeida has simply been doing his job as a journalist. He conducted an interview with a former prime minister and reported what he was told. While the Lahore High Court is entitled to demand his appearance, the authorities must be careful not to use the criminal justice system to harass or intimidate journalists. “Journalism is not a crime and journalists doing their work should not be treated as criminals,” said Omar Waraich, an Amnesty office-bearer for South Asia.

According to the LHC, it issued the warrants as Mr Almeida did not appear before it during hearings in the treason case against Nawaz Sharif despite serving of three notices.

Staffers at Dawn’s Islamabad bureau, however, say that the first two notices were never delivered and the third arrived only last week.

Mr Almeida and Dawn have both said they are willing to cooperate with the courts.

“The new government of Prime Minister Imran Khan has made a number of very positive pledges when it comes to human rights. We expect his government will also commit to the protection of freedom of expression, and ensure a safe and enabling environment for journalists and other human rights defenders so that they can do their work freely and without fear of reprisals,” said Mr Waraich, the Amnesty office-bearer.

In its statement RSF called upon the Lahore High Court to rescind the warrants for Mr Almeida. “It is absolutely unacceptable that Cyril Almeida should be accused of treason simply for interviewing a politician,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “We call on the court to immediately withdraw this arrest warrant, which bears all the hallmarks of an ignominious act of harassment.”

Mr Bastard added: “Crude procedural abuses are clearly being used to intimidate this journalist in order to deter him from doing his job. And behind him, it is Dawn’s editorial freedom that the establishment is targeting.”

Dawn

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Dawn Assistant Editor Cyril Almeida on Monday and ordered the authorities concerned to put his name on the Exit Control List (ECL) for not attending the proceedings in a petition seeking action against PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on treason charges.

As a three-judge bench, headed by Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, resumed hearing, Mr Abbasi made his appearance along with his counsel Naseer Ahmad Bhutta. Justice Atir Mahmood and Justice Chaudhry Masood Jahangir are other members of the bench.

The petition, filed by civil society activist Amina Malik, had sought registration of treason cases against former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

About the non-appearance of Mr Sharif, advocate Bhutta informed the bench that since the former prime minister was busy receiving condolences over the death of his wife, he was unable to attend the hearing. However, the lawyer undertook that Mr Sharif will appear before the court at the next hearing.

Asked about Mr Almeida, advocate Ahmad Rauf told the bench that he had instructions to appear on behalf of the journalist since his client was in Karachi.

Justice Naqvi asked the counsel whether he could give an assurance to the court that his client would appear in court on the next date of hearing. Mr Rauf replied he was not in a position to do so. However, he said he would withdraw his power of attorney if his client failed to appear on the next date.

The judge observed that despite issuance of three notices to the respondent journalist, he had failed to comply with the order of the court.

“In this view of the matter we are left with no option except to issue non-bailable warrants of arrest against Cyril Almeida,” reads a written order of the bench.

It directed the Lahore DIG operations to execute warrants on Cyril Almeida and produce him before the court on the next date of hearing. “Keeping in view the past conduct of the respondent, we have been persuaded to direct that his name shall be placed in Exit Control List forthwith,” the bench said. It directed a deputy attorney general to establish contact with the quarters concerned for the needful. The bench adjourned the hearing to Oct 8 and directed all the respondents in the case to file their written replies before the next hearing.

Meanwhile, the bench asked advocate Azhar Siddique, the petitioner’s counsel, to file a fresh petition when he accused former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal of committing contempt once again by using contemptuous language against courts.

Previously, the bench had discharged contempt proceedings against Mr Ahsan following his unconditional apology.

Amina Malik had based her petition on an interview given by Mr Sharif to Dawn on May 11 this year in which he had said the “attacks in Mumbai (in 2008) were carried out by people from Pakistan”.

After the publication of the interview, the National Security Council held a meeting to deliberate on the matter. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was prime minister at the time, called upon Mr Sharif to take him into confidence about the deliberations.

According to the petitioner, Mr Abbasi’s action amounted to sedition as he had violated his oath of office.

Editor’s note

The notice served on Cyril Almeida was delivered at Dawn’s Islamabad bureau in the middle of last week, and journalists and officials at the bureau say the earlier two notices were never delivered. Mr Almeida, like all Dawn staffers, is a law abiding citizen, and sincerely believes in the rule of law. He is a seasoned journalist and has never shied away from such matters.

Back in 2016 he had rushed back from his assignment of covering the US presidential elections only to appear before a high-level inquiry tribunal set up by the government to probe a story published by Dawn. There is absolutely no question of him not being present at the next hearing on October 8, as desired by the honourable court. He will certainly be there.

Mr Almeida has no immediate plans to travel abroad, and will attend the proceedings of the case whenever desired by the honourable court. Therefore, the honourable ben­ch of the LHC may like to withdraw the non-bailable warrants of arrest, and the instructions given to put his name on the ECL.

Dawn

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The News: Nawaz Sharif, journalist summoned in treason case

The Express Tribune: LHC issues Cyril Almeida’s non-bailable arrest warrant

The Nation: Nawaz Sharif summoned in treason case

Business Recorder: LHC issues non-bailable arrest warrants for Cyril Almeida

From 2011-2012, the young media professional has worked in close collaboration with press clubs in Pakistan (in Sindh, Punjab, Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), initiating comprehensive Investigative Journalism and Media Ethics courses for journalists across the board. Currently the director of Mishal Pakistan (a social enterprise) and the founder of non-profit Agahi, under which she launched the Agahi Awards, Pakistan’s first annual journalism awards, Chaudhary is presently also serving as a member of the World Futures Society as a contributing reviewer on the millennium project which unites futurists the world over to improve global foresight.

In an interview with The Diplomat, Chaudhary speaks about the downside of Pakistan’s media industry, media ethics and the state of investigative journalism in the country.

You have more than a decade’s experience as a media professional in Pakistan. From your perspective, has the Pakistani media industry evolved?

Yes it has evolved. However it still has a lot of growing up to do. Recent trends indicate that consumption patterns have switched from linear to non-linear media, where much of the responsibility and the onus of public opinion principally come from the broadcast medium – be it television or radio. But then the question arises: are these information outlets doing a promising job? Unfortunately the struggle is still there. I believe the media can play a progressive role in nation-building, especially when it comes to a nation as young as ours. It can enable governments, corporations and other non-state actors such as the civil society and academia to create an environment that can assist in bridging gaps within the existing socio-economic and political structures.

Do you think a free and fair media exists in Pakistan today?

The media in Pakistan is free, whether or not it is fair, that’s an entirely different debate altogether. How many developing nations does one comes across that gets to see news coverage vehemently criticizing the government, the armed forces, the intelligence agency, the judiciary, etc? In Pakistan, these institutions are not only ridiculed but are also disgraced. Now, is that fair? I suppose not, because not enough research and competence goes into planning content. One can easily judge this by the sheer absence of quality programming one gets to see on a day-to-day basis.

What are our drawbacks?

The industry has yet to become professionally competitive. Our media lacks integration into a broader policy agenda on governance and public sector reform. The role of the media in a country clearly situates it as an actor on the political stage. The media cannot fulfill their democratic roles if they are not embedded in an enabling regulatory environment and a culture of transparency.

As of now the industry benchmarks its performance essentially based on two factors; sensationalism and who breaks the news fastest, neither of which qualifies as credible or even educational. The industry is missing performance-based mechanisms, indicators that observe the credibility and rationality of the content being delivered. These gaps are then exploited by either an extremely incompetent workforce or by other vested interests. The lack of industry-academia linkages is another issue – a common understanding on the relationship is that the collaboration between the two will not only produce quality research but would also contribute towards new information and knowledge building of the collective wisdom of the society. A corporate governance structure that safeguards the interests of various stakeholders in the information ecosystem is missing from within the media industry, which is leading to malpractice and exploitation.

Do you think we have solid investigative journalism being carried out on a local level?

It is well established that local and national journalists are prone to unhelpful sensationalism or single, unsubstantiated narrative. This often is a result of a lack of investment in investigative reporting. Public and institutional awareness of the benefits of investigative journalism creates indigenous demand for quality reporting and accountability of public representatives. Having said that, advertising revenues for both electronic and print are declining; unfortunately this has had a significant impact on human capital development. The Pakistani media industry lacks the capacity to understand and appreciate data, a key factor for quality investigative journalism. The amount of data available in Pakistan has not been properly exploited to create worthy investigative journalism pieces on governance, social injustice, and economic mismanagement.

Please comment on the lack of security provided by the state and media houses for journalists. How many more assassination attempts, murders and threats is it going to take for them to start taking security for media professionals seriously?

“I say protect the innocent. Protect those journalists who are doing their duty and who are serving both the public and the government by criticizing the government freely, independently, honestly which is an education for any government.” – Muhammad Ali Jinnah on the condition of the Press in India in the Imperial Legislative Council, September 19, 1918.

Need I say more? Pakistan is the world’s most dangerous country for the press. More than 90 journalists have been killed since 1947. These figures tell many stories, not all of course related to the buzz around “freedom of press.” Much of it has to do with training, competence, and capacity to operate in volatile areas and destabilizing conditions. Life before any story – a journalist can remain committed to his/her profession if he/she is committed to surviving.

Please comment on media ethics in Pakistan today.

Media organizations in Pakistan, just like elsewhere around the world, are owned by corporate, political and media persons. Different stakeholders in the industry exist to mold the public opinion for their own interests, [at the cost of] the ignorance of [ordinary people], exploiting their basic right to information. The thin line between rating vs. credibility is gradually disappearing. There’s no denying the efforts that have been made to revisit ethical codes of journalism and codes of conducts for journalists have been reframed nationally and internationally. But even [now], an institutionalized mechanism that sets benchmarks and demands quality journalism is still being overlooked and deliberately ignored.

What’s next for Agahi? How does it intend to aid in the evolution of investigative journalism in Pakistan?

Agahi intends to continue training journalists on emerging tools and technology for investigative reporting. Analysis of and synthesizing “big data” is something that is essentially required, since our audiences are no longer confined to traditional boundaries. Agahi will be focusing on data-driven journalism and hopefully, this will improve the quality of investigative reporting in Pakistan.

Sonya Rehman is a journalist based in Lahore, Pakistan. She can be reached at: sonjarehman [at] gmail.com

The Diplomat

HYDERABAD: Armed men continued to snatch and burn copies of Dawn in Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Dadu, Hala and Benazirabad for the second day on Sunday.

Dozens of bundles of the newspaper were snatched from stalls and hawkers in Hyderabad and other towns in interior of Sindh.

According to Sindh regional manager of Dawn Media Group Thadani L.S., two armed men on a motorbike snatched 10 to 15 copies of Dawn from a stall near the PTCL office, burnt them and warned the hawker against selling copies of the newspaper in future.

He said that two armed motorcyclists snatched 20 to 25 copies from a stall in Naseem Nagar, Qasimabad, set them on fire and fled.

Five armed men went to Akhbar Farosh Market at Hyderabad railway station and threatened Dawn agent Sajid Karimi of dire consequences if he continued to sell copies of Dawn.

They misbehaved with Anjuman Akhbar Faroshan president Amir Shah when he tried to intervene. They identified themselves as activists of the Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (Shafi Burfat group) and fled.

In Jamshoro, two armed motorcyclists deprived a hawker of 50 to 60 copies of the newspaper.

In Dadu, three armed men snatched about five bundles of the newspaper from a hawker.

In Hala, five armed men intercepted a wagon loaded with different newspapers on the National Highway and picked 20 to 22 bundles of Dawn, torched some of them and took away the rest.

The bundles were to be sent to Hala, Naushahro Feroze, Khairpur Mirs, Mehrabpur, Ranipur and Gambat.

In Benazirabad, three to four armed amen warned local agents and hawkers not to sell copies of Dawn till the matter was resolved. The newspaper was delivered to Pathan Colony depot of Dawn with the help of Hyderabad police which had provided security to its two trucks from Toll Plaza between 4am and 6am.

Meanwhile, Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz secretary general Sajjad Shar agreed to halt the protest and resolve the matter through talks.

Talking to Dawn’s Hyderabad Bureau Chief Mohammad Hussain Khan over phone, Mr Shar promised that no incident of burning of the newspaper would take place on Monday.

Source: Dawn