LAHORE MIRROR (Monitoring Desk)– Punjab Police on Tuesday arrested defiant journalist Imran Riaz Khan from Attack Toll Plaza, Islamabad. After passing 24 hours, he has been produced before Rawalpindi special Magistrate court under police custody for a hearing.
According to media reports, Imran Riaz Khan lawyer Ashfaq completed his arguments whereas, the special court has reserved a verdict against the arrest of Imran Riaz Khan till the filing of this item.
In this regard, the Attock police said that an FIR has been registered against Imran Riaz in Attock and he is being transferred to the police station.
In his video statement before his arrest, Imran Riaz Khan said, “I was arrested at Islamabad Toll Plaza and I was coming to Islamabad for bail when I was arrested. I don t want to be killed and Chief Justice Athar Minallah ordered me not to be arrested.”
On the other hand, the Punjab law minister said that more than 20 FIR has been registered against him in Punjab, so he has been arrested in Punjab.
PTI Chairman and Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan strongly condemned the arrest of Imran Riaz Khan. He tweeted that “I strongly condemn the arbitrary arrest of @ImranRiazKhan by Punjab police tonight. The country is descending into fascism just to make our nation accept an Imported Govt comprising of mega crooks. It is time for everyone, esp the media, to unite & stand up against this fascism,”.
The PTI senior leadership condemned the arrest of the journalist and demanded his immediate release.
The PTI Secretary General Asad Umar said expression of opinions should be met with counterarguments instead of arrests. The PTI Vice President Fawad Chaudhry strongly condemned the arrest and hoped that the courts would take action.
The PTI Central Secretary Information Farrukh Habib shared a video regarding the journalist’s apprehension by law enforcement agencies.
Former minister Ali Haider Zaidi also condemned the incident and said the nation stood with Khan. In a recent video on his Youtube channel, the journalist had criticized the military leadership.
In May, the Lahore High Court had accepted Imran Riaz Khan’s plea for protective bail after multiple sedition cases were registered against him.
In the meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced a nationwide protest against the arrest of journalist Imran Riaz Khan.
In a statement, Former Federal Minister and PTI General Secretary Asad Umar said that the party would stage a nationwide protest against the arrest of the ‘prominent’ journalist.
He urged the party workers and supporters to stage protests outside the press clubs across Pakistan. He termed Imran Riaz Khan’s arrest an attack on freedom of expression in the country.
PTI leader Shahbaz Gill said that the country has not witnessed such actions in General Pervez Musharraf’s tenure. “Every attempt to suppress journalists will be thwarted,” he said, urging the party workers to protest against the ‘imported government’.
