Resignation of Shaheen Sehbai from The News International Amidst Controversy and Alleged Government Pressure

Shaheen Sehbai resigned from The News International in March 2002 after receiving a memorandum from his publisher chastising him for publishing libellous material, alienating advertisers, and generally avoiding senior government officials as well as his own staff, among other complaints; Mr. Sehbai claimed that the criticism was directed at him because he did not support the Musharraf regime. The Committee to Protect Journalists wrote a public letter to then-President Pervez Musharraf in August 2002, drawing his attention to the alleged mistreatment of Shaheen Sehbai’s family.

Shaheen Sehbai Files Defamation Suit Over Allegations Linking Him to a ‘Revenge Mission’ Against President Zardari

In July 2010, Shaheen Sehbai filed a defamation suit against Azeem Daultana, a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly, and two newspapers for printing Daultana’s column. The notification states that the column alleges that Sehbai is on a “revenge mission” against current President Asif Ali Zardari because he was “denied” an Ambassadorship, a claim first made in an Aftab Iqbal column published in Nawa-i-Waqt on December 29, 2008.

Shaheen Sehbai Resigns from The News International, Citing Concerns Over Political Leaning and Conflict with National Institutions

In April 2016, Shaheen Sehbai resigned from The News International citing concerns about the newspaper’s political leaning and claiming that the paper “unnecessarily engaged in a dangerous conflict with national institutions.”