On Feb 2, Pakistani journalist and TV host Imran Reaz Khan was arrested in Lahore for “controversial remarks,” Geo News reported Thursday.
The arrest comes hours after Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Pakistan’s Teliku-e-Insaf (PTI) ally, was arrested by Islamabad police.
A Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a team from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested Riaz at Allama Iqbal International Airport while he was boarding a flight to Dubai.
Sources say the FIA will take the journalist to a local court in Lahore to demand custody of him.
Imran Riaz’s lawyer Mian Ali Ashfaq told that this is the “illegal arrest” of the journalist and they will challenge in court against it.According to the FIR ,Imran Riaz was “found involved in publicly making a hate speech at a conference which falls under the territorial jurisdiction of FIA cyber crime cell”.It was further publicly shared on social media platforms nationally and internationally. It may cause alarm or fear in the country and arise feeling of hatred and indignation among people of Pakistan.
In response of this incident,Teherik-e-Insaf (PTI) condemned the arrests and said, “we can affirm that there are no human rights in Pakistan at all”. The tweet also included a video of “Where Riaz Was Filmed”.
PTI leader Asad Umar also condemned the arrests, claiming that the terrorists were roaming free while Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Imran Riaz are behind bars.
