A photo of journalist Imran Riaz Khan during his arrest near Islamabad on Tuesday. — Photo: Farrukh Habib Twitter video screengrab
Journalist Imran Riaz Khan was arrested on Tuesday near the outskirts of Islamabad, according to his counsel Mian Ali Ashfaq.
Talking to Dawn.com, he said Khan was heading to Islamabad when he was arrested in connection with a treason case registered against him in Attock.
Ashfaq said his client was named in 17 treason cases across Punjab, adding that he was filing a contempt of court petition against the police.
PTI Secretary General Asad Umar condemned the arrest. He said expression of opinions should be met with counterarguments instead of arrests.
PTI Vice President Fawad Chaudhry strongly condemned the arrest and hoped that the courts would take action.
PTI leader 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 directly addressed Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and alleged that he was threatened after asking questions from military sources about the country's current political and economic situation.
Several cases have been lodged against senior journalists and anchors, including Khan, Sabir Shakir, Arshad Sharif, Sami Ibrahim and Moeed Pirzada, for allegedly spreading hate against army and state institutions.
The registration of cases against the above, who are seen to favour the PTI, was condemned by PTI Chairman Imran Khan earlier today in a video address.
In May, the Lahore High Court had accepted Khan's plea for protective bail after multiple sedition cases were registered against him.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1698366/journalist-imran-riaz-khan-arrested-near-islamabad
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