��������

KARACHI: A senior Pakistani journalist on Saturday dismissed as “baseless” charges filed against him in connection with a story on corruption in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), after being put on trial in an Islamabad court that has alarmed the media community.

Shahbaz Rana, who works with the English-language broadsheet The Express Tribune, faces a complaint filed by an FBR official who claimed his story was defamatory and scandalous. The article in question said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had sacked 25 FBR officers, all in higher pay grades, based on reports by three intelligence agencies questioning their financial integrity and professional competence.

The complainant also nominated Sharif and other officials.

Speaking to Arab News, Rana said he was reporting on the issue on the basis of authentic official documents.

“This case against me is baseless,” he said over the phone. “First, my report regarding the 25 officers of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was based not only on authentic documents and was true, but was also publicly acknowledged by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif himself, who referred to it twice in his speeches.”

“Furthermore, I did not name any of the 25 officials, including the complainant, in my report,” he added. “Moreover, although the complainant has made the prime minister a party to this case, the charge has been filed solely against me. This baseless case should not stand.”

Journalist bodies including the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists, and the National Press Club have sharply criticized the legal proceedings.

In an emergency meeting held on Friday, they said they had reviewed the official records underlying the news report.

Participants said not only did these documentations exist, but there were also videos of the prime minister that confirmed the report’s accuracy.

The meeting expressed astonishment that in a petition which names the prime minister of Pakistan, the finance Secretary, the interior secretary, the establishment secretary, and the Islamabad inspector general of police as parties, no notice has been issued to any of these co-respondents, while an indictment has been filed solely against Rana.

They noted that Rana’s office was raided for his arrest and that a one-sided trial was now proceeding at great speed.

PFUJ President Afzal Butt termed the trial court’s actions a violation of fair-trial principles and called on the Islamabad High Court to take immediate notice so that justice could be ensured.

The participants of the meeting also noted that denying a well-known investigative journalist in Islamabad the right to a fair trial in this way casts doubt on the entire justice system, adding it has also caused deep concern throughout the journalistic community.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday hailed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “visionary” global security initiative and pledged to deepen cultural, educational and diplomatic ties with Beijing.

The president said this while addressing the 2025 Golden Panda International Cultural Forum awards ceremony, which saw the awards given in film, television drama, animation and documentary categories.

Zardari arrived in Chengdu on Friday on a ten-day China visit, which comes on the heels of an official trip to China by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week, during which Islamabad signed investment agreements and joint ventures worth $8.5 billion with Beijing.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Pakistan president said the forum reminded them how cultures unite people and how art and television can connect different civilizations.

“We share China’s vision for uniting civilizations. Education and people-to-people ties have deepened the brotherhood between Pakistan and China,” he said.

“The world today is undergoing radical changes. In the times of dramatic changes, China, under President Xi, has shown us the path of a win-win solution. I wish to commend the President for his visionary Global Security Initiative.”

Presented at the Boao Forum in April 2022, President Xi’s Global Security Initiative (GSI) aims to uphold the principle of indivisible security, build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture, and oppose the building of national security on the basis of “insecurity in other countries.”

“This initiative reflects a deep commitment to peace, stability, and cooperation in an increasingly complex world,” Zardari said. “We are ready to work with China, with all other nations, to promote understanding and culture and tolerance.”

Pakistan views China as an important strategic ally and investment partner, which has funneled billions of dollars into the country under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) energy and infrastructure project for over a decade.

Beijing is Pakistan’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade topping $25 billion in recent years, while Chinese firms have also invested heavily in Pakistan’s power, transport, infrastructure and telecom projects.

During his ten-day visit, President Zardari will be visiting Chengdu and Shanghai cities, and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region till Sept. 21 to meet Chinese leaders, according to the Pakistani foreign office.

“The discussions will encompass Pakistan-China bilateral relations, with a particular focus on economic and trade cooperation, CPEC and future connectivity initiatives,” it said this week.