Khan protest: Pakistan reporter Matiullah Jan arrested

A journalist in Pakistan investigating violence during a protest march for the release of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested by Islamabad Police.

Television host Matiullah Jan, who also has a big presence on YouTube, has been charged with terrorism, drug peddling, and attacking police, according to his lawyer Imaan Mazari.

"It is no less than a joke," she said. "There is not an iota of truth in these charges."

Jan and colleague 'abducted'

Thousands of Khan supporters marched on central Islamabad demanding that the former leader be released on Tuesday.

Jan's colleague Saqib Bashir said they were collecting data from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) on the casualties after the march when they were taken. 

They had both been picked up by men wearing black uniforms, blindfolded and bundled into a car.

A first information report (FIR) was filed against Jan at the Margalla Police Station in Islamabad on Thursday, indicating he was arrested at a checkpoint in the capital.

Geo TV reported that Jan would be brought before the anti-terrorism court later on Thursday.

Calls for Jan's immediate release

The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed "grave alarm" over Jan's "abduction" and demanded his immediate release.

"Authorities must ensure Jan's safety and immediate release," the organization wrote on social media.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) called for Jan's immediate and unconditional release, noting he was arrested while covering the recent protests in Islamabad.

Speaking to DW, the HRCP's Maheen Pracha said his disappearance was part of a "very well-entrenched pattern of the state cracking down on journalists who are trying to establish information that is considered contentious or sensitive."

Journalists doing such work would often disappear for short periods and then "appear in custody on often trumped-up charges, as occurred in Matiullah's case," she said. 

Pracha also renewed her group's appeal for the government and officials from Khan's PTI party to enter talks to try to defuse the months of protests and police restrictions on them, calling the current situation "untenable." 

"The fact is that the PTI has the right to protest peacefully. It is enshrined in the constitution. But what has happened is that the state has, over now many months, pushed what is a popular party against the wall. And, in that situation, tensions are bound to escalate as we saw over the weekend," she said. 

lo, msh/zc (AFP, AP, Reuters)