“It has come to my notice that a spokesman of the ISI, on Wednesday, questioned the ‘baseless allegations’ levelled by the HRW on the basis of an email from Shahzad, in their possession,” said the APNS president in a statement issued on Thursday.
“I wish to state on record that the email in the possession of HRW representative in Pakistan, Ali Dayan, is indeed one of the three identical emails sent by Shahzad to the HRW, his employers (Asia Times Online) and his former employer, myself. I also wish to verify that the allegations levelled by the HRW on the ISI are essentially in complete consonance with the contents of the slain journalist’s email,” said Haroon.
“I wish to state on record for the information of the officers involved in investigating Shahzad’s gruesome murder that the late journalist confided to me and several others that he had received death threats from various officers of the ISI on at least three occasions in the past five years. Whatever the substance of these allegations, they form an integral part of Shahzad’s last testimony. His purpose in transmitting this information to three colleagues was not to defame the ISI but to avert a possible fulfillment of what he clearly perceived to be a death threat. The last threat which I refer to was recorded by Shahzad by email with me, tersely phrased as “for the record”, at precisely 4:11 am on October 18, 2010, wherein he recounted the details of his meetings at the ISI Headquarters in Islamabad between ISI Media Wing’s Director General Rear Admiral Adnan Nazir, with Deputy Director General Commodore Khalid Pervaiz, also being present on the occasion,” added the APNS president.
The statement said, “The ostensible agenda for this meeting was the subject of Shahzad’s story of Asia Times Online with respect to the Pakistan government’s freeing of senior Afghan Taliban commander Mullah Baraadar. Shahzad informed the senior officials that the story was leaked by an intelligence channel, and confirmed thereafter by the “most credible Taliban’s source”. The senior officials present suggested to Shahzad that he officially deny the story, which he refused to do, terming the official’s demand as impractical.”
The senior intelligence official was “curious” to identify the source of Shahzad’s story claiming it to be a “shame” that such a leak should occur from the offices of a high profile intelligence service. Shahzad additionally stated that the rear admiral offered him some information, ostensibly “as a favour “ in these words, “We have recently arrested a terrorist and have recovered a lot of data, diaries and other materials during the interrogation. The terrorist had a hit list with him. If I find your name on the list I will certainly let you know.” Shahzad subsequently confirmed to me in a conversation that he not only interpreted this conversation as a veiled threat to his person. He also informed me that he let an official from the ISI know soon thereafter that he intended to share the content of this threat with his colleagues, said the statement.
“As president of the APNS, I consider the security of journalists to be of paramount importance. At present, the APNS has officially committed itself to the creation of a national body for the investigations of serious threats to the lives of journalists, a body which the Committee to Protect the Journalists in New York, and other leading organisations in the Pakistani press and human rights bodies have promised to lend vigorous support to. Pakistan has one of the highest rates in the world for journalist’s killings and such an environment is inimical to the functioning of democracy,” Haroon said. He demanded the government and intelligence agencies take the investigation into Shahzad’s murder seriously and examine his last testimony closely. pr