All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) President Hameed Haroon and Human Rights Watch (HRW) Pakistan Director Ali Dayan Hassan appeared on Wednesday before a judicial commission investigating the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad.
The commission headed by Supreme Court judge Justice Mian Saqib Nisar recorded their statements and reviewed the record of the emails they had received from the slain journalist before his murder. The emails in which Shahzad had expressed his concerns over threats to his life had been found to be genuine, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Pervez Shaukat said told reporters after the proceedings at the Lahore Registry of the apex court.
He said the commission would take more time to complete its investigation as some of the selected senior journalists were not in the country, adding that the statements of Najam Sethi and Shahzad’s widow might be recorded at the next hearing. Replying to a question, Shaukat said the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had submitted a report about mobile phone records of the deceased; however, it had not decoded his emails so far because of the unavailability of passwords.
Responding to another query, he said the commission was working independently under the supervision of a sitting judge of the apex court and there was no pressure from any quarters.
