Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) strongly condemns the brazen manner in which senior journalist Matiullah Jan was initially said to be picked up and later found charged on bizarre terrorism and narcotics charges. We call for his immediate release. PPF emphasizes the need for a transparent and conclusive investigation particularly in light of recent coverage by Jan regarding protests by the opposition political party, the Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI).
In a video uploaded to Matiullah Jan’s X account on the morning of November 28, his son Abdul Razzaq, said that his father had been “picked up” by unknown persons on the night of November 27 at around 11 to 11:30 pm from outside PIMS Hospital along with another journalist, Saqib Bashir. He said that Bashir was told that the matter didn’t concern him so he was let go.
There was a lack of clarity on where Jan was taken following this. While some accounts said that he had been shifted to Margalla Police Station, his lawyer Imaan Hazir Mazari said that when she went to the station, people in lock up confirmed to her that right before they came, the police had taken Jan. “He is missing,” she shared, in a post on X.
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) expressed grave concern over the abduction and subsequent arrest of Jan. As per the PFUJ, Jan was kept in unlawful captivity before being shown to be at the Margalla Police Station “with no charges disclosed.” The PFUJ added that Bashir, who was abducted alongside Jan, was released.
Jan was presented before an anti-terrorism court on November 28 which granted two-day physical remand of the journalist. Speaking to the media at the court, Jan said that he would continue his work and when asked if he had been told a reason for the arrest, he said the reason was one they already knew, which is that he was working on the dead bodies.
It emerged that a criminal complaint, First Information Report (FIR), had been registered in the wee hours of November 28 at the Margalla Police Station in the capital by Sub Inspector (SI) Asif Ali under sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, Anti Terrorism Act and the Control of Narcotics Substances Act.
As per the FIR, the SI was on routine check on E-9 checkpoint on Margalla Road when around 2:15am, a speeding car came from the F-10 area. When they indicated to the car to stop, the driver tried to kill the constables and ran them over, in which one constable, Constable Mudassir, was injured. They tried to stop the car by throwing a plastic barrier in front of it, but the car hit it, broke it, and then stopped. The complainant mentioned that a driver came out from the car and forcefully took the government rifle from Constable Mudassir, pointed it towards them, and started to threaten to kill them. After that, the constables handled him and retrieved the rifle from him. As per the FIR, the driver was identified as Matiullah Jan, who they found was intoxicated. After checking his car in his presence, the FIR stated they found a white shopper under the driving seat which carried white colored ICE drug (crystal methamphetamine). It was weighed 246 grams from which one gram has been separated for a laboratory test. The rest have been taken into custody. Government rifles and broken barriers were also taken as proof.
In a statement, PFUJ President Afzal Butt and Secretary General Arshad Ansari called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to intervene and secure Jan’s immediate release. As per the PFUJ, Jan’s abduction had taken place while he was investigating the death toll during PTI’s protest which had followed his coverage of the protests.
The Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND) also condemned Jan’s arrest and termed the charges against him as “absurd.”
According to AEMEND, the FIR had placed “bizarre allegations” on Jan and “reflect ulterior motives.”
In a statement, Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) condemned the incident regarding Jan.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) demanded the “immediate and unconditional release” of Jan. “This authoritarian tactic to silence journalists must cease.”
According to Dawn, in an interview, PML-N leader Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah termed the narcotics case against himself in the past and the current one against Jan a “concocted and fabricated story.” He had asked the Islamabad police chief to answer about it.
Photo source: Matiullah Jan X
