The News International English news | The News International, Latest News & Live Updates in English | English News (Latest English News) at Lokmattimes.com

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Wednesday called for the annulment of the Islamabad High Court judicial inquiry for contempt proceedings against two journalists for having published the affidavit of a former judge highlighting a suspect influencing peddling case.The Paris-based NGO RSF said that the proceeding against two journalists from the daily The News International as well as its owner violates the fundamental principles of the rule of law in Pakistan, reported The News International.In a statement issued by the RSF, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific office Daniel Bastard said, the RSF called on the Chief Justice Islamabad High Court, Justice Athar Minallah to rise to the occasion by immediately lifting the charges against the members of the team of The News International."I checked my sources," said investigative journalist Ansar Abbasi, during an interview by RSF. His ethical requirements were however ignored in the decision, pronounced this Tuesday, December 28, by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Islamabad.Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court decided to open legal proceedings for "contempt of court" against Ansar Abbasi, an investigator for the daily The News International, its Editor, Amir Ghauri, and Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, owner of the Jang Media Group, which publishes the newspaper, reported The News International.Ansar Abbasi simply filed an article, published on November 15, in which he revealed a statement taken under oath by a former Chief Judge of Gilgit-Baltistan, Rana Shamim.The latter claims to have heard the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Mian Saqib Nisar, pressure one of his colleagues not to grant bail to several leaders of the opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML- N) before the 2018 general elections. "The information revealed by Ansar Abbasi and The News International sheds light on issues of public interest absolutely fundamental to the rule of law in Pakistan," noted the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific office, Daniel Bastard.The RSF statement while quoting daily Dawn further said that Ansar Abbasi attested, during the hearing on Tuesday, having fully verified the veracity of his information and his sources, "Rana Shamim himself also [sent me a message] to tell me that what I had read was correct."The paper's editor, Amir Ghauri is also being prosecuted in the contempt proceedings. The third personality implicated in this case, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, who has already spent eight months in prison, before being finally released on bail in November 2020.Pakistan occupies 145th place out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index published in 2021 by RSF.( With inputs from ANI )Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

The News InternationalFOLLOW

The news international, Latest News

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shehbaz Sharif has asked for the formation of a judicial commission to probe deaths of 23 tourists during snowfall in Murree and has said that PM Imran Khan should quit. ...

Pakistan's economy is on the ventilator and inflation is at a 22-month high, any government that heeds the cries of the people protesting out in the streets would have put this mini-budget to bed a long time ago, said Pakistan's Peoples Party leader ...

New Delhi, Jan 10 The insider story of the controversial and alleged illegal partnership between Pakistan Television (PTV) ... ...

New Delhi, Jan 9 Six Islamic State (IS) terrorists were gunned down in Pakistan's Balochistan, including a most-wanted ... ...

Khugakhel tribesmen in Pakistan continued their protest sit-in on Wednesday and stopped construction work at the Torkham border, local media reported on Friday. ...

Pakistan has reported 708 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours with a positivity rate rising up to 1.55 per cent, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said on Monday. ...

Pakistan's Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party has said that they will hold demonstrations across the province on Friday against the hike in the prices of electricity and imposing unjustified taxes and fuel price adjustment in bills. ...

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Wednesday called for the annulment of the Islamabad High Court judicial inquiry for contempt proceedings against two journalists for having published the affidavit of a former judge highlighting a suspect influencin ...