• PML-N spokesperson claims newspaper failed to support allegations against Shehbaz in UK court
• Adviser says PML-N’s claim of victory in case against British newspaper premature

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior and Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar and Pakistan Mus­lim League-Nawaz (PML-N) spo­k­es­person Marriyum Aurangzeb on Sat­urday traded barbs, accusing each other of giving false information to media.

During her press conference at the National Press Club, Ms Aurangzeb showed pictures and data, claiming that the story by David Rose published in the UK paper, Daily Mail, was based on false information provided to the scribe by Mirza Shahzad Akbar.

She said the story was published in 2019 whereas the corruption allegations against Shehbaz Sharif pertained to the period between 2005 and 2009 when the former Punjab chief minister was in exile.

“The adviser to Imran sahib on accountability has been appointed to tell lies and defame others, despite the fact that he was involved in obtaining kickbacks in the Broadsheet case,” she alleged.

The PML-N spokesperson said the story was a manipulation which was aimed to defame Shehbaz Sharif and his family.

“The filer could not even support his allegations in the UK court,” she added.

Shahzad Akbar, on the other hand, mocked the PML-N for spreading false information about the defamation case against Daily Mail.

Addressing a press conference at the Press Information Department a few hours after Ms Aurangzeb spoke, the adviser said: “Shehbaz Sharif has already lost around 75 per cent of the case as he had made tall claims that he would file a defamation suit against Daily Mail, journalist David Rose, me and Prime Minister Imran Khan, but the case was filed against the newspaper and the journalist only.”

He also challenged the PML-N president to “file a defamation suit against him in London”, adding that, “I will present evidence”.

“It seems the PML-N spokesperson, Marriyum Aurangzeb, was still operating the ministry of misinformation and disinformation and giving incorrect and false information to media,” Mr Akbar said.

He said PML-N’s claim of achieving victory in the case against Daily Mail was premature.

“There was only a meaning hearing — to determine the parameters of the defamation case,” Mr Akbar said.

Explaining the term ‘meaning hearing’, the adviser said it was described as a perception taken by the reader after going through the article published in the paper.

“The preliminary hearing on Friday was related to the case filed against the publisher of Daily Mail for a story that alleged that Shehbaz Sharif and his family had siphoned off UK’s aid money,” the PM’s aide said, adding that, “After going through the newspaper article it was acknowledged by the honourable judge that if the news story was not correct the paper was liable for defaming Shehbaz Sharif.”

He said the court had admitted the case and it would move towards trial from now on, adding that Daily Mail would be asked to provide evidence of whatever they had claimed in the article.

“Just as an example, the paper will be asked to prove Shehbaz Sharif and his family were involved in money laundering, to which Daily Mail will probably refer to the remittances in the name of Manzoor Papadwala, etc. in their defence,” he said.

Mr Akbar, however, said misreporting was done by the PML-N, with some sections of the media even giving the impression that Shehbaz Sharif had won something.

“This was not accurate reporting,” he said, adding that, “Almost all reporters, except for one or two who were heavily influenced, had reported that it was only a meaning hearing.”

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2021