LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Wednesday acquitted the officials of a Turkish company in a first information report registered by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill.

Platform Turizm CEO Yemen Yemenoglu, Cemil Senocak and former manager of the company Tahir Mobin were present in the court when Magistrate Bilal Munir Warraich announced the verdict.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Yemenoglu said they were hopeful that they would get justice from Pakistan courts. He said the verdict proved that Gill’s allegations against the company officers were false and amounted to misuse of his powers.

Gill had lodged the FIR with Islampura police alleging that the officials of the Turkish company filed a defamation complaint against him only to defame him and that too without a resolution of the board of directors of the company.

The magistrate in his written order says, “I am of the humble view that there is no probability of conviction and there is no evidence available on record to charge sheet the accused persons to base upon the trial.”

On Sept 26, 2020, Gill had made a statement against Platform Turizm on a private television channel, doubting its business affairs in running the metro bus service.

Later, the former metro bus operator company filed a defamation case against him. The Turkish officials claimed Gill politically victimised the company and filed a false and malicious FIR against them by misusing his portfolio.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2021