Shahzad family disappointed by commission report

Shahzad’s brother-in-law says report merely makes ‘observations’ that already existed.

LAHORE:

For Saleem Shahzad’s family, the judicial inquiry report into his murder was disappointing, to the say the least.

Hamza Ameer, the brother-in-law of the slain journalist, while talking to The Express Tribune, expressed serious concern over the report, saying that a majority of questions remain addressed and after a lapse of more than six months, the report did not reveal any clue into to the identity of the culprits.

Ameer further said that the commission put more emphasis on the welfare and the protection of journalists, making the actual matter of Shahzad’s murder ‘secondary’.

He regretted that the role of the federal and provincial governments as well as national and international human rights and journalist bodies, including the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalist (PFUJ), “was not satisfactory in redressing our grievances.”

“We demand that the federal government declare our brother-in-law as a martyr because he died in the line of duty and he has been recognised all over the world,” Ameer said.

Secondly, he added, the government should take immediate steps in providing compensation to Shahzad’s family who, he said, are leading a miserable life.

The high-level judicial commission, headed by Supreme Court Justice Saqib Nisar, was formed to probe the killing in June of last year.

The report, which was presented to the prime minister, has not held anyone responsible for the abduction, torture and murder of the journalist.

“The Commission looked very hard for the kind of substantial evidence/tangible material - direct or circumstantial - which would allow it to single out the culprits from the various suspected quarters. Yet such evidence has not surfaced,” the report stated. It went on to state, however, that, “Nonetheless, the Commission urges the government to provide substantial compensation and support to the family of the deceased.”

Anita Saleem, Shahzad’s widow, told The Express Tribune that her husband could not be brought back, but at least they could now provide their children with proper education and living conditions.

Shahzad left behind three children – Fahad, 15, Amna, 11, and Rehman Shah, 8.

Saleem left Islamabad immediately after Shahzad's death and is currently is living in her house in Karachi.

Unanswered questions

Ameer said that four months into Shahzad’s murder, a laptop which was in his (Shahzad’s) possession at the time of incident, was ‘suddenly’ recovered but he was not told how or from whom it had been recovered.

He added that the commission only managed to recover emails from the laptop and questioned the unavailability of other data.

Ameer further stated that the report only made observations that already existed and said there was nothing new that surfaced in the probe.

He said he had already raised suspicions on militant, state and non state actors and even an intelligence agency because of Shahzad’s personal accounts.

SAFMA expresses dismay

The South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) and Media Commission-Pakistan (MC-P) have also expressed dismay over the failure of the judicial panel to reach a conclusion into the journalist’s murder.

“The commission was supposed to submit its report within six weeks of its formation. However, six months down the line, its findings have shown little, confirming the fears expressed by civil society and media rights organisations,” said SAFMA Secretary General Imtiaz Alam in a statement.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2012.