Musharraf’s lawyer slams PTV for airing false report

Other television channels later picked up the report and aired the same fabricated news, Naseem told the Express News programme ‘Acha Lagay, Bura Lagay’.

Naseem, who joined Musharraf’s legal team on Monday, claimed that a “grave injustice” had been done to his client because of Pakistan Television’s report.

People believed that the court denied Musharraf’s application to travel abroad and see his ailing mother. But the court’s judgment had no mention of the Exit Control List (ECL), explained Naseem.


Senior analyst Imtiaz Alam said PTV is in a crisis these days, but the way they are trying to get out of the crisis, is much worse.

Meanwhile, Ayaz Khan, the senior editor of Daily Express, said the state-run channel breaking the news of Musharraf’s applications being rejected had a big impact as it is considered to be the most reliable and authentic source of news domestically and the world over. The story was lifted quickly by the other channels. But the inaccurate reporting was sad as the state channel lost its credibility and other media organisations cannot be blamed for following PTV., he said.

About the general’s future, Imtiaz Alam predicted, “Whenever Musharraf goes abroad, the plane will come from the Gulf. If the government did not accept the application to remove his name from the ECL, the court will issue such an order.”

It is also possible that the high-treason case proceedings continue in his absence.

Commenting on Monday’s proceedings, Ayaz Khan said that those who boasted and talked much about the democratic government are now silenced after Musharraf surprisingly showed up in court. “Even Akram Shaikh approached Musharraf in the courtroom and explained that he was not against the former general but the case was about violating the constitution.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2014.