CPJ urges government to reveal whereabouts of missing journalists – Pakistan
New York: Pakistan authorities should immediately reveal the whereabouts of journalists Sami Abraham and Imran Riaz Khan and stop intimidating the press as the country’s political turmoil continues, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday.
At about 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 24, between eight and 10 men—some wearing uniforms—detained Abrahams, the president and Anker. bol newsAccording to the journalist’s lawyer and news reports and Raja Amir Abbas, who spoke to CPJ by phone while he was on his way home from the privately owned broadcaster’s office in Islamabad.
Abbas said that as of the evening of Thursday, May 25, Ibrahim’s whereabouts were unknown.
His lawyer, Azhar Siddiqui, told CPJ by phone that the whereabouts of Imran Riaz Khan, the bol news anchor who has been missing since May 11 after his arrest at Punjab’s Sialkot airport, are also unknown as of Thursday evening.
“We are deeply troubled by the disappearance of journalists Sami Abraham and Imran Riaz Khan amid a media crackdown in Pakistan,” said Beh Leah Yee, CPJ’s Asia Program Coordinator. “The authorities should respect the rule of law and either produce Ibrahim and Khan in court or release them immediately.”
Journalists have been arrested, assaulted and monitored since the May 9 arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan, chairman of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which led to nationwide protests.
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