Nisar seeks probe into ‘video confessions’

Federal interior minister says it is the prerogative of the courts and not the media to issue verdicts in a case

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday prohibited all concerned authorities, including the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), from airing videos of any suspects who are currently under arrest.

The directives follow the recent leaking of ‘confessional’ videos of Dr Asim Hussain and Muttahida Qaumi Movement activist Minhaj Qazi.



“We are writing a letter to the government of Sindh and asking it to investigate which investigative institution is behind these cases. In a separate letter, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority is also being asked to formulate a code of conduct and procedure to eliminate the [occurrence] of such incidents,” Nisar said in an official statement.

Terming the release of such videos ‘illegal and unethical’, he said only courts are eligible to pronounce judgments in such cases. The interior minister added that the unnecessary release of such videos weakened the prosecution’s case instead of strengthening it, and called for avoiding ‘media trials’.

On Wednesday, an 80-second clip of Dr Asim’s ‘confession’ went viral on social media and was screened on several TV channels. In the clip, Dr Asim accused Owais Muzaffar Tappi of ‘all kinds of corruption’ under the PPP government in Sindh.

“When the second (PPP) government [in Sindh] came to power, he [Muzaffar] came to the fore and became the virtual CM,” Dr Asim claimed. “He [Muzaffar] was involved in all kinds of corruption, all types of projects and land [grabbing]. He never let an opportunity pass, any CCTV project or anything else,” he added.



Another ‘confessional’ video, that of MQM’s Minhaj Qazi, surfaced on Friday. In the 38-second video, Minhaj – who has been accused of murdering a former K-Electric managing director among others – shared the names of some party workers allegedly involved in the high-profile assassination of then Sindh governor Hakim Mohammad Said in 1998.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2016.