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Reuters
Matiullah Jan, a journalist and columnist, has never shied away from controversial issues.
A prominent Pakistani journalist was released hours after he was picked up by unidentified armed men on a busy street in Islamabad.
Matiullah Jan is an outspoken critic of the military establishment.
A video that was allegedly of the kidnapping sparked a protest on social media, with many fingers pointing at the Pakistani secret services.
It is widely considered to be behind the country’s growing “enforced disappearances”.
Jan was taken a day before appearing before the country’s highest court in a contempt case brought against him after he criticized the court’s verdict in a case involving a superior judge.
His family confirmed Jan’s return to BBC Urdu’s Azam Khan, saying he was in a good mood.
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“A person who called from an unknown number called to tell me to come to Fatehjang [on the western outskirts of Islamabad] and take Matiullah home, “said his brother Shahid Abbasi, a lawyer.
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Azaz Syed
Jan (center) with fellow journalist Azaz Syed (left) after his release
Abbasi said he had to walk a certain distance from the main road in the Fatehjang area to meet his brother.
According to Abbasi, Jan told the family that during his captivity, he was blindfolded and repeatedly driven from one place to another.
How was it kidnapped?
Jan was picked up by a dozen men in broad daylight outside a women’s university on Tuesday.
He had just left his wife, who works there, when he was surrounded by several vehicles, including some with police markings and an ambulance.
The event was recorded by CCTV cameras installed in the university building, and the images were widely shared on social media, causing anger.
Soon after, the Islamabad High Court issued notices to top police and administration officials to appear in court on Wednesday, with or without Matiullah Jan, to explain his whereabouts.
Pressure on the government was visible when Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz admitted at a press conference that, according to information available at the time, Matiullah Jan had been “kidnapped” and that the government had a duty to recover him.
Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari also described the event as “very disturbing” in a tweet, saying she had spoken to the Islamabad police chief.
The Pakistani media, which generally avoid reporting such events, broke with tradition, and while there were some initial attempts to censor the story, most front-line television channels ended up executing and discussing it on talk shows.
Chief Counsel Salman Akram Raja told Dawn News TV that “the era of anti-democratic forces supremacy may be coming to an end because it has caused the country numerous setbacks in the spheres of politics and economy.”
What is the court case about?
Jan will appear before the Supreme Court on Wednesday in connection with a contempt case.
As an outspoken journalist, he has never avoided courtship controversies, often losing his jobs as a result.
He has worked for almost every major media house in the country, but currently runs his own YouTube channel, called MJtv.
Covering legal issues has long been his specialty, and he was one of the prominent voices who found gaps in a recent Supreme Court verdict against one of the court’s judges, Judge Faiz Isa.
Judge Isa is known for some strong lawsuits that accuse the military establishment of causing or failing to prevent some major incidents such as the Quetta hospital massacre in 2016 or the sit-in in Faizabad in 2017 by a cleric who stopped life in the federal capital. for several weeks.
Judge Isa, who will become the country’s chief justice in 2023, faces charges of not declaring his family’s assets in the UK and elsewhere.
The charges are seen by many as an attempt by the military to prevent him from reaching the superior court office.
Matiullah Jan covered the problem on his YouTube channel and also tweeted about it.
