ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani anchor and YouTuber, Imran Riaz, has been released from police custody, his lawyer confirmed on Friday, after he was arrested earlier this week on charges of monetary fraud in a money lending case.
The prominent TV journalist turned promoter of incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s political party was picked up from the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore on Tuesday night where he had gone to catch a Hajj flight to Saudi Arabia.
“Alhumdulillah [praise be to God], the release has been secured,” Riaz’s lawyer, Mian Ali Ashfaq, said in a social media post while sharing a photograph with him.
Riaz, who has more than 5.7 million followers on X and millions more on other social media platforms, took on the Pakistani military and its intelligence agencies after ex-PM Khan was removed from power in April 2022 and blamed the army for being behind his ouster.
He was picked up in May last year and returned home in September, with authorities not indicating where he had been.
He was also arrested in February this year over his alleged involvement in an anti-judiciary campaign on social media.
Human rights groups have widely accused Pakistan’s security agencies of being behind the disappearances of journalists, political workers and activists, allegations that authorities deny.
Pakistan has a controversial record regarding media freedom and the safety of journalists. Media personnel have frequently complained of being targeted by state authorities for their work while some have been attacked and killed, and others have left the country citing threats to their life.
The South Asian country was ranked 150 in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.