ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani journalist, who was arrested after coverage of last week’s anti-government protests in Islamabad, on Sunday denied “fabricated” charges against him, a day after his release in a terrorism and narcotics case.
Matiullah Jan, a broadcaster working with Neo TV, was “picked up” from outside a hospital in Islamabad on Wednesday, where he was investigating alleged fatalities during the recent protests in support of jailed ex-premier Imran Khan, according to his son.
The police report registered against Jan included Code of Criminal Procedure’s Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 382 (theft after preparation made for causing death, hurt or restraint in order to the committing of the theft), 427 (mischief causing damage), 506 (criminal intimidation) along with 7ATA (terrorism-related section) and a narcotics-related section.
On Saturday, an anti-terrorism court judge, Tahir Abbas Sipra, who presided over the hearing of Jan’s bail petition, approved the plea against surety bonds worth Rs10,000 ($36), following which he was released from custody.
“Allah Almighty has been very kind to me once again. I am back home safe and sound,” Jan said on X. “I want to completely deny the false and fabricated charges brought against me by the government.”
Jan has a history of criticizing Pakistan’s government and the country’s powerful military establishment. He was also briefly detained by uniformed men during Imran Khan’s tenure in 2020.
He thanked his lawyers, journalists, politicians, members of the civil society as well as the diplomatic community for standing by him and a timely response to ensure safety and security of journalists in Pakistan.
Successive Pakistan governments have often been criticized by rights monitors for using broad anti-terrorism legislation to quash dissent.
Islamabad witnessed a protest march by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters, who faced a major government crackdown in which nearly a thousand political activists were arrested during three days of unrest this week.
Jan was investigating the aftermath of the crackdown on PTI workers when, according to his family, he was taken away by people in unmarked vehicles hours before the police announced his arrest.
Amnesty International has criticized Pakistani security forces for using “unlawful and excessive force” on crowds, but Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told reporters on Wednesday that the PTI was “lying” about it, as its leaders claimed their followers had been killed.
Khan’s party has so far named 12 people, claiming it has evidence they lost their lives during the crackdown in the federal capital and demanding the judiciary take notice and hold top government ministers accountable.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government has formed a joint task force to identify the one involved in “propaganda against the state,” following last week’s violent protests in Islamabad by supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Nov. 24 led thousands of supporters to Islamabad, seeking to pressure the government to release the ex-premier from jail. The protests resulted in clashes that Pakistan’s government says killed three paramilitary soldiers and a police officer, and injured hundreds of others. The PTI has named 12 people and says it has evidence they lost their lives during the crackdown, however, several PTI members have given varied accounts of casualties during the protests. Pakistani authorities deny the claims.
The Pakistani interior ministry said on Sunday said it would hold social media users accountable for propagating “fake” deaths during the anti-government protests, reiterating that law enforcers deployed to disperse violent protesters did not have live ammunition. It said the army, deployed under Article 245 of the constitution to secure key government installations and foreign diplomats in Islamabad’s Red Zone, neither came in direct clash with the protesters, nor was it employed for riot control.
In a notification issued late Sunday, PM Shehbaz Sharif’s office said the “malicious campaign” was aimed at discrediting the state in general and security forces in particular, for which multiple local and foreign media platforms were being used to “perpetrate concocted, baseless and inciting news” implicating the state apparatus for committing serious human rights violations.
“This campaign is aimed at creating serious law and order situation in the country and foment provincialism and ethnic cleavages for specific vested political interests. To attract foreign audience, perpetrators of this inimical campaign attempted to create serious human rights violations through fictitious violent images and contents,” it said.
“The prime minister has desired to form a joint task force (JTF) to inquire and pursue defaulters.”
The task force will include officials from the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, ministries of information technology, interior and information and broadcasting, police and the Federal Investigation Agency as well as civilian and military intelligence agencies, according to the notification.
It will identify individuals, groups and organizations involved in creating and spreading “fake and misleading news” relating to the Islamabad protests, track and trace individuals and groups in the malicious campaign both in Pakistan and abroad, and bring them to justice. The task force will also suggest measures to bridge policy gaps and share its findings with the government within 10 days.
Khan’s PTI party has staged several protests this year to demand the release of the ex-premier, who has been in jail since August last year on a slew of charges, as well as to challenge results of the Feb. 8 national election, which it says were manipulated to keep the party from coming to power in the country. The Pakistani government and election authorities deny this.
Last week’s protest was by far the largest to grip the capital since the poll and the Pakistani government said it caused Rs192 billion per day indirect losses to the economy.