Journalists seemed to be dragging their feet in the Saleem Shahzad Probe Commission on Monday, with two senior journalists seeking time from the commission to submit their statements.
A source told Pakistan Today that eminent journalists Najam Sethi and Absar Alam had sought further time from the commission to record their statements, drawing ire from the commission’s president. “Justice Mian Saqib Nisar looked irritated when a letter by Najam Sethi was presented, who had claimed that he was not available till September. Justice Nisar said the commission was mandated only for six weeks to probe the case and it could not wait for the journalist till September. He directed Information Secretary Taimur Azam Usman to contact Mr Sethi and ask him to appear in court at the earliest if he wanted to pursue his statement.
Absar Alam also sought some time by saying that he would be available on the next hearing but was not today,” the source said. The source added that none of the journalists had mentioned the name of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as a suspect, though many had accused the agency of the killing. The source said the commission was submitted a report on the email records of the slain journalist by the Federal Investigation Agency’s Cyber Wing director, and the doctors who had conducted the autopsy on the slain journalist’s body had been summoned to brief the commission on their findings on Wednesday. The source said further that the commission argued with Imtiaz Alam on his statement on Monday while a friend of Saleem Shahzad, Qamar Yusufzai, also submitted his statement.
Journalists stalling in Saleem Shahzad probe
