— IHC chief justice says abduction is a ‘test case’ for police
— Directs federal government to ‘ensure freedom of expression’
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday declared that the alleged abduction of journalist Matiullah Jan, who was released late on Tuesday night after brief captivity, was meant to “scare others” as it wrapped up a habeas corpus petition filed by the journalist’s brother.
Jan, who was due to appear before a Supreme Court bench today in a suo motu case against him for posting a “contemptuous” tweet against the judiciary, was abducted on Tuesday by half a dozen plainclothes and police uniformed men from outside a government school in Islamabad’s G-6 Sector. He was released late night near Fateh Jang, some 48 kilometers from the federal capital.
While Jan was missing, a petition was filed by his brother, Shahid Akbar Abbasi, through Barrister Jahangir Khan Jadoon before the IHC. The high court had accepted the petition “keeping in view the gravity of the matter and its implication in the context of constitutionally guaranteed rights of the citizen”.
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, who heard the case on Wednesday, noted that alleged CCTV footage of the incident showed that those who picked him up were in police uniforms. “Someone has the nerve to do such a thing in police uniforms,” Justice Minallah remarked, observing that vehicles that had surrounded Jan’s car had police headlights as well.
“What impression will the public get that people are roaming around freely in police uniforms,” he said, adding that the episode was meant to “scare others” without elaborating further.
The chief justice said because footage showed men in police uniforms, Jan’s abduction would be a “test case” for the police.
“If there is no rule of law, there will be nothing here except chaos,” Justice Minallah said.
During the hearing, a representative of the interior ministry and Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Waqaruddin Syed appeared before the court in response to the high court’s notices to Interior Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar, Chief Commissioner Amer Ali Ahmad and Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Amir Zulfiqar Khan.
Justice Minallah termed the incident as “alarming”, saying that such an act “cannot be tolerated”.
“It is our misfortune that such an event happened in Islamabad,” he lamented, adding that the federal government should “ensure the freedom of expression”.
DIG (Operation) Syed told the court that an FIR had been lodged, at which the chief justice asked why clauses related to terrorism had not been added. “Terror clauses are included in [the case of] any crime committed against a journalist,” he said.
The hearing was subsequently adjourned. A written verdict is yet to be issued.
