Pakistan Journalist Arrested
Pakistan journalist arrested near Islamabad hours after claiming threat to life
Islamabad: Hours after claiming that his life was under threat, Pakistan journalist Imran Riaz Khan was arrested on Tuesday near a toll plaza on the outskirts of Islamabad.
Journalist Khan, who was named in 17 treason cases across Punjab province of Pakistan, was heading to Islamabad when he was arrested by the Punjab Police in connection with a treason case registered against him in Attock, reported The Dawn.
In a pre-recorded video on his popular video channel, Imran Riaz Khan said, “This video is being recorded for the time of my arrest. They may kill me. After a gap of five hours, if they harm me, then I will upload such a video on my channel that will cause a furore. I will name everyone. Just wait for five hours.”
Besides this, the journalist also posted on Twitter condemning the “fascist regime” in Pakistan.
“Many of us are facing cases just because of our journalism. 20 cases on me. Where is democracy and freedom of speech,” he wrote.
Condemning the arbitrary arrest of the journalist, former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan tweeted: “I strongly condemn the arbitrary arrest of Imran Riaz Khan by Punjab police tonight. The country is descending into fascism just to make our nation accept an Imported Govt comprising mega crooks. It is time for everyone, especially the media, to unite and stand up against this fascism."
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Asad Umar also condemned the arrest and said that expression of opinions should be met with counter arguments instead of arrests.
Non-profit human rights organisation, Amnesty International, tweeted: "Amnesty International is alarmed by news of journalist Imran Riaz Khan’s arrest and urges authorities to stop punishing dissenting voices, as has been a worrying trend in Pakistan for many years."
"In the past few weeks, journalists have been disappeared, faced politically motivated charges and even violently attacked for simply doing their job. Journalism is not a crime, and must be stopped being treated as such," it added.
In a recent video on his Youtube channel, Imran Riaz Khan addressed Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and alleged that he was threatened after asking questions from military sources about the country’s current political and economic situation.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
