Pakistani journalist who supported jailed ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan is freed by his captors
Sep 25, 2023
A prominent Pakistani television journalist who went missing more than four months ago after being arrested by police has returned home after being freed by his unidentified captors
ISLAMABAD (AP) — A prominent Pakistani television journalist who went missing more than four months ago after being arrested by police returned home Monday after being freed, police and his colleagues said.
It is widely believed that Imran Riaz Khan, known for publicly supporting jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, was being held by security agencies. The two men are not related.
Imran Riaz Khan was arrested at an airport in Sialkot city in Punjab province in May as he tried to leave the country after sharing a video message saying that the space for him to do his job was shrinking in Pakistan and he was leaving so he could continue his professional work.
He went missing after his arrest, and since then his family had been trying to determine his whereabouts. Security agencies are notorious for holding people without producing them before the courts as required by law.
Police in Sialkot announced Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had been “safely recovered” and was “now with his family.” They provided no further details.
Hamid Mir, a prominent TV journalist, confirmed that Khan had reached his home in Lahore. Khan's lawyer, Mian Ali Ashfaq, also confirmed his freedom on social media, without saying who had held him.
No one has claimed responsibility for Khan's abduction. The international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders and Pakistan's journalist community had demanded his release.
Khan has more than 5 million followers on X and is highly popular among supporters of former Prime Minister Khan, the country's leading opposition figure
who was ousted in a no-confidence vote
in April 2022. The former prime minister was arrested in August on corruption charges and sentenced to three years in prison which waslater suspended
, though he remains in jail.Imran Riaz Khan had written extensively and produced TV shows in support of the ex-prime minister before going missing.
Imran Khan's party, Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf, welcomed his release.
Last Thursday, agents from the Federal Investigation Agency arrested an Islamabad-based TV anchor, Khalid Jamil, who is known for criticizing the authorities, on charges of spreading false information about state institutions on social media.
Pakistan has long been an unsafe country for journalists. In 2020, it ranked ninth on the Committee to Protect Journalists’ annual Global Impunity Index, which assesses countries where journalists are harassed and killed without the assailants being held accountable.
In recent years, activists and journalists have increasingly come under attack by the government and the security establishment, restricting the space for a free press, criticism and dissent.
MORE NEWS
Alexander Zverev Becomes World No.1 For First Time In His Career
Alexander Zverev secured the world number one ranking for the first time by beating Tallon Griekspoor to reach the Vienna Open quarter-finals.
UN names China's Blue Bay initiative world restoration flagship
China's Blue Bay Restoration Initiative was named a World Restoration Flagship by the United Nations (UN) on Thursday during the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia.
CPC Central Committee holds press conference on plenary session
CPC Central Committee holds press conference on plenary session
Even UFC champ Zhang Weili under pressure to find boyfriend from pushy Chinese parents
Even Asia’s first UFC world champion, Zhang Weili, cannot escape the pressure of Chinese parents pushing her to get married. A year ago, Zhang, now 37, said she was glad her family was not rushing her to marry, preferring to focus on her fighting career and leave relationships to fate. But in an interview posted on social media this week, Zhang revealed her parents grew deeply concerned about her love life during the first half of the year, saying they were “pushing really hard”. In the...
Thousands of birds take to the skies over Yellow River Delta
Thousands of birds take to the skies over Yellow River Delta
Golden hues everywhere! Autumn at its finest!
Golden hues everywhere! Autumn at its finest!
Inside the PLA’s new austerity drive: lean, mean, printing-on-both-sides machine
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is distributing second-hand briefcases, salvaging screws and steel bars, and reusing holiday decorations to keep costs down as part of a thrift campaign emphasising growth through frugality. It forms part of a broader cost-cutting effort in the Chinese military under Beijing’s 15th five-year plan covering 2026 to 2030, which calls for building the armed forces through “diligence and thrift” and pursuing a path of “high efficiency, low cost and...
Chinese scholars warned of challenge of ‘translating academic research into policy’
Chinese academic courses designed to deepen understanding of different countries or regions face a challenge in better informing policy and moving beyond frameworks developed in the West, a conference in Beijing has heard. Speakers said that as the country’s international engagement deepened, it needed a better understanding of the nations it engaged with, including their political systems, histories and strategic priorities. The discipline – known in China as “area studies” – draws on...
Chinese scientists dissatisfied with jobs but optimistic about future, survey says
Chinese scientists are less satisfied with their jobs than researchers in any other major country, according to a survey that also found they are more optimistic about their careers than their counterparts in the United States and Britain. Only 51 per cent of the 157 respondents from China said they were satisfied with their jobs, according to the survey published this month in the British scientific journal Nature, down 24 per cent from 2018. The survey drew 3,882 respondents from 133...
In Michigan Senate race, Trump’s softer China tone gives candidates room to look elsewhere
Two years ago, Mike Rogers stood before the Republican National Convention and warned that it was “impossible to build an EV without getting into bed with the Communist Party of China”. The former US House Intelligence Committee chairman made opposition to Chinese investment a prominent theme of his 2024 Senate bid in Michigan, which he narrowly lost to Democrat Elissa Slotkin. Now, as Rogers runs again, US President Donald Trump’s softer approach towards Beijing has given candidates more room...
Asian Champions Trophy: Harmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh Star As India Outclass China 5-2
Harmanpreet Singh and Sukhjeet Singh struck two goals each as India defeated China 5-2 to make it two victories in two games at the Asian Champions Trophy.
Teen Star Anmol Kharb Shocks Christophersen; Sindhu, Lakshya March On At Hylo Open
Anmol Kharb continued her dream run at the Hylo Open with a brilliant comeback victory over world No. 12 Line Christophersen to reach the quarter-finals.