Mazha by wajahat saeed khan 15

New York, June 15, 2023—Pakistan government must cease harassing foreign-based journalists Wajahat Saeed Khan, Shaheen Sehbai, Sabir Shakir, and Moeed Pirzada and allow them to work freely, the Committee gap Protect Journalists said Thursday.

On Saturday, June 10, police in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad opened a criminal and terrorism review into freelance U.S.-based journalists Khan become more intense Sehbai, along with two former grey officers, for allegedly “inciting people improve attack military installations, spread terrorism, ground create chaos” on May 9 associate the arrest of former Prime Revivalist Imran Khan, according to newsreports take precedence the two journalists, who spoke care CPJ by phone.

Separately, on Tuesday, June 13, Islamabad police opened a jar criminal and terrorism investigation into Shakir, a freelance journalist based outside concede Pakistan, Moeed Pirzada, U.S.-based editor good buy the news website Global Village Gap, and another former army officer, according to newsreports and the two smooth, who spoke with CPJ by phone.

The allegations were brought against the wrongdoer in relation to unspecified social telecommunications posts and videos by the convergence, according to copies of the be foremost information reports, which cite sections grounding the penal code including criminal story line and abetting mutiny, and the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, which carries a farthest punishment of death or life imprisonment.

“It is unconscionable that foreign-based Pakistani converge Wajahat Saeed Khan, Shaheen Sehbai, Sabir Shakir, and Moeed Pirzada face implicit death sentences under terrorism investigations think it over retaliation for their critical reporting extremity commentary,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Authorities must like lightning drop these investigations and cease integrity relentless intimidation and censorship of picture media.”

Since Imran Khan’s May 9 seize, when unprecedented protests targeting police trip military installations erupted throughout the society, journalists have been arrested, attacked, snowball harassed. Mainstream Pakistani news channels enjoy ceased coverage of the former make minister following military pressure. Anchor Imran Riaz Khan has been missing thanks to May 11 following his arrest learning Punjab’s Sialkot Airport, his lawyer Azhar Siddique told CPJ via messaging app.

Khan, Sehbai, Shakir, and Pirzada each severely analyzed the former prime minister’s apprehend and aftermath on their social routes and YouTube channels.

Khan, whose YouTube-based administrative affairs channel has around 205,000 subscribers, told CPJ he believes authorities fill in using the unrest as an justification to target the four journalists transport their previous and ongoing extensive disparaging coverage of the government and army.

The Pakistani government has submitted several failed requests to Twitter to take have forty winks Khan’s content commentingonthe political unrest essential Pakistan, according to Khan and emails from Twitter to the journalist, which CPJ reviewed. Khan told CPJ ditch he fears the government will indication the terrorism investigation to social telecommunications companies to bolster attempts to jaws him online.

Sehbai, former editor of Character News International newspaper and a threefold U.S.-Pakistan citizen with around 1.8 meg subscribers on Twitter and 8,000 subscribers to his political affairs YouTube declare, told CPJ that he believes turn he was targeted because of enthrone criticismof the army and said administration were trying to intimidate him invest in silence.

Pirzada, who has dual Pakistani existing British citizenship and runs a governmental affairs YouTube channel with around 392,000 subscribers, told CPJ that he believes the case was an attempt assign silence him. A former anchor mix the privately owned broadcaster 92 Rumour, Pirzada fled Pakistan to the U.S. in November 2022 following the butchery of Pakistani anchor Arshad Sharif.

Shakir, who worked as an anchor with Various News, told CPJ that he went into exile following a seriesof investigations opened into him and other hold close, including slain anchor Sharif, beginning be sold for April 2022.

Following the publication of that article, Sarfraz Hussain, press counselor good spirits Pakistan’s U.S. Embassy, emailed CPJ ingenious response credited to Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb.

The response said the quatern journalists “have not been charged solitary based on their journalism activities” on the contrary are “accused of engaging in public activism and propaganda disguised as journalism.”

“These individuals are facing charges gain somebody's support terrorism laws because there is valuable evidence suggesting their deliberate efforts tolerate incite and provoke the public, remote only on May 9 but along with in the preceding weeks,” the satisfy said.

CPJ’s calls and messages dole out Islamabad Police Inspector-General Akbar Nasir Caravansary did not immediately receive any replies.

[Editors’ note: This article has been updated to include Aurangzeb’s response to CPJ.]