Islamabad HC issues notice to police after journalist Riaz Khan's arrest

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 6 (ANI): After Pakistan's senior journalist Imran Riaz Khan was arrested on Tuesday night, Islamabad High Court issued notice to the federal capital's police chief and chief commissioner.
On Tuesday night, journalist Imran Riaz Khan was heading towards Islamabad to acquire a pre-arrest bail from the High Court arrested in a treason case, when he was arrested by the Attock police, Dawn reported.
The High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah told the Islamabad police chief and chief commissioner to appear before the high court at 10 am today. The notice came after a contempt petition was filed by journalist Khan's legal team late on Tuesday night.
It named the police chiefs of Islamabad and Punjab as respondents along with the chief commissioner of the federal capital.
The Attock police said that the case was registered against the journalist on June 25 under the Section 505-1(C ), 505 (2), 501, 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code and six different sections of the Prevention Of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, reported Dawn.
The journalist also shared a video of himself at the time of the arrest wherein he could be seen sitting in his car surrounded by police officials.
In a pre-recorded video on his popular video channel, Journalist Khan said, "This video is being recorded for the time of my arrest. They may kill me. After a gap of five hours, if they will harm me, then I will upload such a video on my channel that will cause a furore. I will name everyone. Just wait for 5 hours."
He also posted on Twitter condemning the "fascist regime" in Pakistan. "Many of us r facing cases just because of our journalism. 20 cases on me. Where is democracy and freedom of speech."
PTI Chairman Imran Khan condemned the arrest of journalist Imran Riaz Khan and said, "I strongly condemn the arbitrary arrest of @ImranRiazKhan by Punjab police tonight. The country is descending into fascism just to make our nation accept an Imported Govt comprising of mega crooks."
"It is time for everyone, especially the media, to unite and stand up against this fascism," Imran Khan tweeted.
Earlier in the day, the PTI head had also mentioned Imran Riaz during his live address on Facebook and said journalists who supported PTI were being intimidated by the authorities, according to the Dawn.
Several cases have been lodged against journalists in Pakistan for cases involving the army and state institutions. This latest arrest comes in the backdrop of a growing crackdown on journalists in Pakistan. (ANI)