Pakistan / Asia

Editor’s note: On March 24, FIA officials raided Raftar’s office and seized Farhan Mallick’s work computer and USB drives, according to a post on X by the media outlet, which called the raid a direct assault on independent journalism. New York, March 21, 2025—Pakistani authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Farhan Mallick, detained in Karachi Thursday by…

New York, March 20, 2025—Pakistani authorities must immediately reveal the whereabouts of journalist Asif Karim Khehtran and the brothers of U.S.-based exiled Pakistani journalist Ahmed Noorani, and cease their intimidation of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Around midnight on March 18, about two dozen individuals, identifying themselves as police, forcibly entered…

New York, January 28, 2025—Pakistan’s Senate on Tuesday passed controversial amendments to the country’s cybercrime laws, which would criminalize the “intentional” spread of “false news” with prison terms of up to three years, a fine of up to 2 million rupees (USD$7,100), or both.  The amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) were…

New York, January 22, 2025—Pakistani authorities must stop deporting and harassing Afghan journalists who have fled Afghanistan because of threats to their lives, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. During the first week of January 2025, Pakistani security forces detained two Afghan journalists and their families before deporting them to Afghanistan, according to a…

New York, December 17, 2024—Pakistani authorities must stop harassing broadcast journalist Harmeet Singh, who has been summoned to appear for questioning on December 24 to the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Reporting Center in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on allegations he engaged in “negative rhetoric against state institutions,” according to a copy of the summons…

UPDATE: Since the publication of this alert, the Punjab police told CPJ that Malik Zafar Iqbal Naich’s murder stemmed from a domestic dispute and was not connected with his journalism. The victim’s two brothers-in-law, who have confessed to orchestrating the attack, are in custody, and three other individuals have been detained for allegedly aiding them….

Pakistan authorities must immediately and unconditionally release senior journalist Matiullah Jan and stop harassing him for his journalistic work, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Thursday.  “CPJ is dismayed by the arrest of Pakistani journalist Matiullah Jan following his coverage of protests in Islamabad,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “The Pakistani…

New York, November 27, 2024—Unidentified shooters opened fire on civilian vehicles, killing at least 42 people, including Janan Hussain, a journalist for the independent digital outlet 365 News and general secretary of the Parachinar Press Club, on November 20 in the Ochut area of Kurram district in northern Pakistan. “The tragic killing of Janan Hussain…

Hope for justice in journalist murders is dim across the world, but especially in Pakistan, which has appeared on CPJ’s Global Impunity Index every year since the list’s inception in 2008. This year, the South Asian country ranks twelfth out of the 13 worst offenders. CPJ’s impunity index lists countries where perpetrators who kill journalists…

New York, October 10, 2024—Pakistani authorities ordered a raid of the home and a 30-day detention of journalist Ihsan Naseem on Sunday, October 6, in Battagram district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on accusations of endangering public safety and encouraging members of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) to protest. “The detention of journalist Ihsan Naseem…