ISLAMABAD — Pakistani police on Thursday arrested and charged a prominent journalist investigating claims of casualties during a government crackdown on opposition protesters in the capital, Islamabad, earlier this week, drawing strong condemnation from media freedom advocates.
Relatives and colleagues said Matiullah Jan was picked up outside a hospital in the capital just before midnight along with colleague Saqib Bashir while they were collecting data about “the dead bodies.”
Bashir told reporters Thursday that he was freed and dropped off on a street three hours later. Jan, who hosts a political talk show on television and runs his own YouTube channel with nearly 400,000 subscribers, is a known critic of Pakistan’s military for its alleged meddling in governance matters.
Asif Ali, the police officer complainant in the case, told VOA that the journalist detainee was charged with terrorism, assaulting law enforcement personnel and possessing narcotics.
While in police custody Thursday, Jan vehemently denied the charges against him. “This is all fake, funny and fabricated. I don’t even smoke a cigarette,” he said, adding that his efforts to collect details about the protesters’ deaths led to his arrest.
“We are not afraid and will continue to pursue our work,” he said.
Bashir told VOA that they were in the process of “collecting data on the casualties” when men wearing black uniforms blindfolded and forcibly pushed them into a vehicle in the parking area of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad.
Media advocacy groups and human rights activists denounced the police action and expressed “grave alarm” over the incident.
The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan demanded Jan’s immediate and unconditional release.
“This authoritarian tactic to silence journalists must cease,” the commission said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists noted that Jan’s arrest followed his coverage of a protest march by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf political party.
“We call for a swift and impartial investigation into the incident and accountability for all perpetrators,” the CPJ said on X.
“Complete impunity persists for Jan’s previous abduction in 2020,” the global watchdog wrote, referring to a brief abduction of the journalist four years ago, reportedly by Pakistani intelligence operatives. Pakistan’s intelligence agencies never responded to the allegation.
Hours before he was arrested Wednesday, Jan said on his television program that security forces had used firearms to disperse opposition protesters, causing several fatalities and bullet injuries to dozens more. He cited data from hospital sources and accused the government of hiding the truth by pressuring hospital staff not to reveal any details to the media.
Jan also questioned government claims that several law enforcement personnel had died after being run over by a vehicle in the protesters’ convoy on Monday when thousands of supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan stormed Islamabad to stage a sit-in demonstration to demand his release.
The journalist aired an interview on his YouTube channel with a witness, who was also a relative of one of the deceased men. The witness said the vehicle belonged to paramilitary forces who were retreating from the protest site after running out of tear gas shells when they crashed into a crowd of security personnel and demonstrators. Social media video supported the account.
On Tuesday night, authorities cut off power before unleashing a sweeping crackdown on several PTI supporters, with multiple foreign media outlets, journalists and residents in nearby neighborhoods reporting heavy tear gas shelling and intense gunfire by paramilitary forces directed at the rally.
The government announced early Wednesday that the security action had dispersed protesters and reopened roads linking Islamabad with the rest of the country after a four-day lockdown.
The PTI has said that as many as 40 people died, accusing security forces of opening fire directly at the rally. However, the opposition party has provided information about only eight victims so far, indicating that they are still gathering details about others.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarrar and capital police officials maintained that security forces employed tear gas and rubber bullets in response to the protests, dismissing allegations that live ammunition was used. Furthermore, they denied claims that the crackdown resulted in civilian casualties.
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