A Pakistani court on Monday acquitted the country’s biggest media mogul of corruption charges over land acquisitions dating back three decades, a case that rights groups said was brought in an effort to curb press freedom.

After an almost two-year trial, the court in the eastern city of Lahore ordered the release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman for lack of evidence, his lawyer Amjad Pervaiz said. “There is no supportive material with the prosecution to prove involvement of the accused,” the court said in its ruling.

Arrested in March 2020 on charges of securing illegal property concessions from a previous government in 1986, Rehman was granted bail later in November that year.

Rehman is the owner and editor-in-chief of Jang media group, which publishes Urdu- and English-language newspapers and also runs the popular Geo News TV.

New York-based Community to Protect Journalists and other rights groups said the prosecution of Rehman amounted to an attack on press freedom.