Journalist kidnapped in Pakistan capital: family

A journalist in Pakistan was kidnapped from his home in Islamabad on Wednesday, his family and lawyer said, the latest assault on press freedom in the South Asian country.

More than a dozen people stormed the house of Muhammad Waheed Murad, a multimedia journalist at Saudi-owned Urdu News, taking him away, his mother-in-law said.

Murad has previously criticised the role of Pakistan’s powerful military, which analysts say is deeply involved in the country’s politics and economy.

“Around 20 unidentified individuals stormed the house around 2:00 am (21:00 GMT) and forcibly took him away, without presenting any (arrest) warrant,” Abida Nawaz said in a video statement.

Murad’s lawyer filed a petition Wednesday at Islamabad’s high court alleging unidentified officials “presumably from intelligence agencies” arrived in double-cabin trucks that they typically use.

“The pattern of his abduction was the same as in the past,” Imaan Mazari told AFP.

“The abductors, their modus operandi, and the way they stormed the house in the dead of night make it clear who they are.”

The country has been ruled by the military for several decades of its 77-year history and criticism of the security establishment has long been seen as a red line.

Rights groups have accused Islamabad’s shadowy intelligence agencies of “disappearing” critics, an allegation the military denies.

Pakistani journalists have reported rising state censorship in recent years and the public has shifted to consuming much of its news from social media.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists condemned what it called an “enforced abduction” of the reporter.

“Such actions against journalists are unacceptable and threaten the very fabric of democracy and press freedom,” the press group said in a statement.

The latest kidnapping came after Farhan Mallick — founder of Pakistani internet media channel Raftar — was arrested last week on charges of “anti-state posts and fake news” under toughened legislation.

That abduction came in the same week two brothers of exiled journalist Ahmad Noorani were kidnapped from their family home after he wrote about the growing influence of the powerful military chief’s family.

Islamabad has been criticised by watchdogs for restricting internet access, including temporary bans on YouTube and TikTok, while X remains officially blocked.

The criminalisation of online disinformation has spread fear in Pakistan, with journalists among those worried about the potentially wide reach of the law.

Pakistan is ranked 152 out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index.