Daily Times

Another day, another journalist makes headlines for being detained by law enforcement. The Federal Investigation Agency’s treatment of Lahore-based journalist Shahid Aslam is reprehensible. The charges brought against this Bol News journalist are sufficient to demonstrate the level of seriousness in government corridors. When Shahid Aslam was brought before a local court in Islamabad for physical remand, he told the audience that he was being pressured to reveal the passwords to his gadgets, which he would never do.

The judge granted the journalist a two-day physical remand. He is accused of actively participating in the release of former army chief retired General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s personal tax data. Even if the journalist in question was involved in a report released in November last year by an investigative news website accusing the army chief and his family of amassing assets worth Rs12.7 billion over the previous six years, he was conducting journalistic work.

Journalism is about exposing wrongdoings, and if the report in question is riddled with disinformation, the opposing party has legal grounds to sue the website’s owners. But this story spurred action from the finance minister, who claimed that the leak was “obviously violative of the entire secrecy of tax information that the law provides.” He should have commented on the article, which used tax records and wealth statements from the Bajwa family to back up its accusations regarding the family’s alleged accumulation of assets both inside and outside of Pakistan. In this regard, the FIA illegally detained Shahid Aslam. So far, the FIA has not produced evidence for the court to substantiate this claim.

Pakistan is a hostile environment for journalists. According to the International Federation of Journalists, five media professionals have been killed in the past while performing their duties. The majority of journalists experience highhandedness from both state and non-state actors, which is a serious cause for concern and serves as a reminder to governments around the world to take action to protect journalism. The protection of journalists from both state and non-state actors should come first.

Kazam Khan, president of the CPNE, also criticised the government’s move and asked for the implementation of a measure safeguarding journalists, which was ratified by parliament but has yet to take effect. Government inaction would only embolden those who want to limit free expression and weaken the populace’s ability to hold their leaders responsible, especially by ensuring that those in positions of responsibility do not block the growth of inclusive and open societies. *