Journalist Imran Riaz Khan “may even have died in detention”, according to an RSF report. Advocacy groups for media freedom and journalists in Pakistan have asked that authorities explain the fate and whereabouts of a prominent television anchor who was arrested about two weeks ago.
According to family members and attorneys, Imran Riaz Khan was apprehended on May 11 at the airport in Sialkot, an industrial city in the Punjab region, when he attempted to flee the country due to fears of arrest. However, authorities have stated that the reporter is no longer in their possession.
Daniel Bastard of the France-based global watchdog Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, said in a report Tuesday it had received information from “confidential diplomatic sources” that the missing journalist Imran Riaz Khan was tortured and “may even have died in detention.”
Thousands of individuals were jailed earlier this month during a statewide crackdown on supporters of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party and its leader, popular former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The missing journalist, who had nothing to do with the famous PTI chairman, was known for conducting pro-Khan chat shows on the mainstream BOL television station and had over 4 million YouTube subscribers.
The journalist was expected to appear in court in Lahore, the provincial capital, on Monday in response to a complaint brought by his father last week. However, the police chief informed the judge that there was no sign of the television anchor.
“We have asked police across Pakistan. No one has Imran Riaz,” Usman Anwar, the Punjab police chief, said during the court hearing. “However, agencies had asked for a police van. Why they had asked for a police van, [the court] can summon the agencies and ask,” Anwar said, referring to the country’s military intelligence agencies.
The judge ruled in response to the police chief’s statement the “failure of the police to ascertain the fate and whereabouts of the missing citizen of the country is clear from the information.” The court will reconvene on Thursday.
Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific bureau, urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to release the missing journalist immediately, saying Pakistani authorities would be held “directly responsible” for any harm that may have occurred to him.
In a second statement, Amnesty International stated that the case of the missing journalist “constitutes an enforced disappearance under international human rights law.” It urged that Imran Riaz Khan be released immediately.
The watchdog stated that for many years, enforced disappearance has been a “worrying trend” in Pakistan and is used to punish “dissenting voices.”
The missing journalist was in the past widely seen as a close ally of the powerful military but began criticizing the institution in support of the ousted Khan.
This is unimaginable that a prominent media person like Imran Riaz can just vanish like that soon after being arrested and allegedly released by state authorities/police. The govt must act fast if it claims to be a government worth a salt and trace/recover him safe and sound. His…
— Matiullah Jan (@Matiullahjan919) May 15, 2023
Khan was deposed from office in April 2022 by a parliamentary vote of no confidence, which he denounced as illegitimate and orchestrated by the powerful military. According to polls, the cricketer-turned-prime minister is still Pakistan’s most popular politician.
Since his removal, the former leader has held enormous anti-government rallies in which he openly blamed army generals for toppling his administration and referred to Sharif as a “puppet” of the military.
Also read: Imran Riaz Khan not in custody of ISI and MI, LHC told
On May 9, paramilitary forces violently arrested Khan outside a court in Islamabad on corruption charges. He was released on bond two days later, but his followers held rallies for many days over his imprisonment, battling with riot police and attacking government property, including military buildings.
Since then, the PTI chairman and his allies have condemned the attacks on military sites. Khan claims that over 10,000 followers, including senior leaders, have been imprisoned without any police inquiry, claiming that intelligence agency operatives were responsible for the attacks on military buildings.
Sharif and the military leader, General Asim Munir, have announced that anybody involved in violence against army property will be tried in military courts, provoking condemnation and calls for the contentious decision to be overturned by human rights groups.
