Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday alleged that the media has been silenced by the government and that dissenting journalists have been oppressed in the country for the past two years.
Khan has been lodged in the high-security Adiala Prison in Rawalpindi since his arrest 10 months ago in connection with several cases, several of which he has been convicted of.
“In Pakistan, media has always been vulnerable to state control and journalists have been targeted for their critical approach. For the past two years, media has been silenced in Pakistan and journalists voicing dissenting opinions have faced repression,” Khan, 71, said on his X account.
The former prime minister’s post comes days after the Punjab government, led by Maryam Nawaz, daughter of Khan’s arch rival and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, recently introduced a controversial bill on defamation, the Punjab Defamation Act, 2024, which would impose drastic restrictions on press freedom in the name of fake news.
Independent media is one of the most important pillars of a nation. It acts as a watchdog and pressures the government to change course, said the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
“My government tried to change this environment by introducing the Journalists and Media Protection Act, but since the planned VoNC, it has been ignored,” he said.
The VoNC he was referring to was the no-confidence motion that ousted the government in April 2022 over the alleged leaking of diplomatic cables.
On Tuesday, the PTI founder cited examples of journalists who have been killed or forced to leave the country for criticising the Pakistani military’s role in politics.
“Arshad Sharif was forced out of the country due to serious threats and was murdered in cold blood in Kenya. Dr Moed Pirzada, Sabir Shakil and Wajahat Saeed Khan have been forced to leave the country.”
“Imran Riaz Khan has been abducted and tortured for over six months, while journalists like Siddiq Jan, Sami Ibrahim, Arif Hameed Bhatti and Adeel Habib are under constant pressure,” it said, asking, “Who is orchestrating this systematic crackdown in clear violation of our country’s constitution and international treaty obligations?”
Khan further said the crackdown and silencing of the media through intimidation, harassment and repressive ordinances was also a direct attack on democracy and freedom of expression.
A group of Pakistani journalists has filed a complaint under the Punjab Defamation Act 2024 in the Lahore High Court.
