A former official of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has issued a public apology and agreed to pay £40,000 in legal costs to senior Geo News journalist Murtaza Ali Shah, after nearly four years of litigation at the London High Court.
Riaz Hussain, who previously served as PTI’s additional general secretary (Northwest region), admitted he had made false and defamatory statements about Shah, including baseless accusations of corruption and journalistic misconduct. The High Court had earlier ruled the remarks were defamatory under common law.
In a public statement published on his Facebook page, Hussain withdrew his allegations and acknowledged that Murtaza Ali Shah “is not corrupt” and has not “misled people through his journalism.” He offered an unconditional apology for the damage caused to Shah’s reputation, as well as the emotional distress inflicted by the smear campaign.
Riaz Hussain’s apology leaves his two co-defendants — Mohammad Imran, PTI’s former Northwest region president, and Shanaz Saddique (aka Shanaz Hussain), former general secretary — to continue defending themselves. Both remain liable for previous legal cost orders, and face a court application for debarring in September. The court has already issued a charging order on Shanaz Saddique’s property for outstanding costs.
The defamatory campaign, which began in March 2020, involved coordinated attacks across social media platforms, allegedly triggered by Murtaza Ali Shah’s reporting on the arrest of Geo/Jang Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and an exposé on the state-run Assets Recovery Unit’s investigation into Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s family.
Justice Steyn DBE, presiding over the case, ruled that all six defamatory statements met the threshold of seriousness and caused serious reputational harm. The case continues against the remaining defendants.