A group of veteran journalists and human rights activists have strongly condemned what they describe as a “fabricated and concocted” case of drug trafficking registered against senior investigative journalist Matiullah Jan, calling for its immediate quashment.
In a joint statement issued on Monday, the signatories denounced the case as an attempt to silence Jan and obstruct his journalistic work. They urged the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, and the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court to intervene and direct police authorities to withdraw the First Information Report (FIR) lodged against him.
Jan was reportedly abducted by unidentified men on November 28, 2024, from the car park of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad. His abduction and subsequent detention, the statement said, represented “clear examples of arm-twisting tactics employed by the authorities to muzzle investigative journalism.”
The journalists expressed alarm that, nearly a year later, the Islamabad police continue to pursue the case rather than uphold press freedom and respect for free expression. “The charges against Matiullah Jan are fake and fabricated, and they must be withdrawn immediately,” the statement read.
They also questioned the circumstances surrounding the FIR, which was filed at 2:30 a.m.—just hours after Jan’s abduction at 11:30 p.m.—calling the unusually swift registration “unprecedented and alarming.”
According to the statement, Jan had been investigating the alleged police firing on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protesters near D-Chowk, Islamabad, on November 24, shortly before his abduction. The timing, they argued, suggested a deliberate attempt to intimidate him.
Signatories to the statement included senior journalists and activists such as Hussain Naqi, Zahid Hussain, Farhatullah Babar, Mustansar Javaid, Anwar Iqbal, Mazhar Abbas, Dr Nazir Mahmood, Dr Tauseef Ahmed Khan, Munizae Jahangir, Shahzada Zulfikar, and many others.
They further noted that Jan’s abductors did not seize any data or notes related to his ongoing investigations, a fact they said “underscores the concocted nature of the case.”
The group demanded that the government ensure journalists’ safety and allow them to work without fear, intimidation, or reprisal. “We urge the authorities to end the persecution of journalists and uphold Pakistan’s constitutional commitments to freedom of the press,” the statement concluded.