Pak journalist released after outcry over abduction

Senior Pakistan journalist Matiullah Jan was released in the late hours of Tuesday after a widespread outcry over his abduction by nearly half a dozen plainclothes and uniformed men from outside a government school in broad daylight in the Islamabad.

The ‘forced abduction’, which was caught on CCTV cameras, not only enraged journalist community and rights organisations but also triggered serious security concerns among legal fraternity, political parties and diplomatic circles.

The journalist had already been in the limelight due to the contempt proceeding against him in the Supreme Court for his alleged ‘contemptuous’ tweet regarding Justice Isa case decision.

CCTV footage of the abduction shows that it was around 11.10am when men in uniform and plainclothes forcibly removed Mr Jan from his car and thrashed him in front of Government Girls School, situated in Islamabad’s sector G-6/1-3, where his spouse works as teacher. It can be seen in the footage, which later went viral on social media, that the journalist was being manhandled and dragged towards their vehicles when he threw his mobile phone into the school while a uniformed man immediately collected it from a woman at the school. The journalist was then whisked away to an undisclosed location.