On March 9, 2007 President Pervez Musharraf suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. As the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) began hearing the case, so did the media. For the media, it was as if all its Eids had come together. The public discussion of sub-judice issues irked the SJC which promptly and rightly directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to take measures to prevent airing of programs concerning issues pending before the Council.

Similarly, when the case pertaining to Musharraf’s dual offices case was being heard in that fateful fall of 2007, the court said that the “Media must avoid debate on sub-judice matters” and that there “should be a code for the media to prevent it debating sub-judice issues.” In no uncertain terms, the court scolded the media for whipping up the frenzy surrounding the respective cases. Amen to that, said all supporters of an ethical and responsible media.

But what if someone is accused of something worse than any matter the court has ever heard, something that has the potential to bring one’s life’s work to naught; but the trial is not being held within the confines of a court but rather in the court of public opinion by the media. In this case, who shall ask the media to cease and desist and avoid tainting public opinion against him? What if the masses deem someone a traitor based on mere allegations only for him to be later found innocent when due process is exercised? Will it ever be possible for the accused to rid himself of the stigma that has been attached to him?

I am speaking of course of Husain Haqqani and the serious allegations being hurled at him for being the architect of a provocative communique to Mike Mullen which sparked the ‘memo-gate’ controversy. In support of his case, the accuser has released alleged communication he had with Haqqani and sections of the media have published it verbatim. In his defence, Haqqani asked: “Do you think (the media) verified authenticity of BBM transcripts with their usual zeal for accuracy?” He went on to add: “How can anyone prove that they are real?”

If the accusations are eventually proven false, media outlets can issue all the clarifications they want, but the damage to the accused’s reputation will be irreversible. Spoken words can not be taken back and impressions etched on people’s minds can not be washed away that easily. People who have already pronounced the accused guilty based on the media trial may then raise doubts about the fairness of the actual trial instead of accepting the outcome.

The bitter truth is that Haqqani can only get justice if he is guilty of the charges levelled against him. If he is not guilty, he will escape punishment but will never be able to recover even something as ephemeral as a job, let alone his reputation. This is a damning indictment of the state of affairs we find ourselves in. At the least, there is an urgent need to introduce the culture of ‘fact-checking’ a story and weighing its consequences before beaming it on to the airwaves.

Unfortunately, Hussain Haqqani’s case is not an isolated one and he is not the only victim of media trials. The allegations of corruption against Asif Zardari, of tax evasion and undeclared assets against Nawaz Sharif and of establishment support to Imran Khan are all symptoms of the same disease. There is no doubt that the judicial system has failed to deliver justice at all levels, but that does not give us the license to fan the flames against our political opponents and conduct media trials as we please. Our energies should instead be expended on correcting the flaws in our judicial system if it is letting ostensibly guilty folks off the hook.

For better or for worse, the purported evidence against Haqqani is out there now and so are his denials. This has effectively turned each individual into a judge. How are we, and the public as a whole to react to this? Having seen the claims and heard the denials and not being in any position to gauge the veracity of either, I would venture that we defer to those who can. I know that’s how any of us would like to be treated, if God forbid, we found ourselves in such hot waters.