Fawad, Sanaullah favour live coverage of corruption trials

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Rana Sanaullah have endorsed the live broadcast of graft trials for greater transparency.

The lawmakers were participating in a talk show hosted by senior journalist Hamid Mir. During the show, Mir asked Fawad if he would support the plea of PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi seeking live coverage of his trial in an accountability court. At this, Fawad said he would fully support it.

According to the science and technology minister, the live coverage of trials was standard practice in the UK. “Pakistan follows many practices and laws of the UK, why can’t it do it in terms of trials,” he added.

He said the people must know what are the charges and what is defence.

At this, Sanaullah said he also supported the idea of the televised trials, adding that his narcotics case should also be aired.

On Wednesday, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi filed a petition in an accountability court of Islamabad, seeking live media coverage of his trial proceeding in LNG-Terminal project reference.

The plea argued that Article 19-A grants the public the right to know factual information about a trial. People would get the authentic information about the trial through live coverage, he added.

“There are other public benefits; let the people know whether their representatives are innocent or corrupt or they have been involved in false and politically motivated cases; let the people see whether complaints are ‘stock witnesses’, whether the case is politically motivated,” the application quoted by Dawn newspaper said.