Former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party announced that Imran Khan's senior global media coordinator had been forcibly abducted in the wee hours of Saturday.
The family of Khan's International Media Manager, Ahmed Janjua, accuses law enforcement and intelligence agencies of his forced disappearance.
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Parliamentarians of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, carry posters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan
(Photo: AFP/ Getty Images)
Janjua's family also filed a petition at the Islamabad High Court on Saturday for his safe and earliest recovery.
In the petition, Janjua's wife, Farhana Barlas, stated, "My husband is missing because of his connection with PTI." She urged the court to order his recovery.
The petition names the Secretary of Interior, Secretary of Defense, IG, and federal police officials as parties.
Farhana told the media persons that "around 4 AM on Saturday, approximately 20 masked men in plain clothes and black uniforms, armed with weapons, forcibly entered her husband's residence at the Defense Housing Authority in Islamabad and kidnapped Ahmad Janjua. They also took laptops, mobile phones, and all of Ahmad's devices."
Farhana also mentioned that "Ahmed is diabetic and hypertensive, and the men did not allow him to take his medicine or wear shoes."
Neither the government nor the police have commented on the incident, and no reason has been given for Janjua's arrest.
According to PTI sources, ten members of the social media team, including Ahmed Janjua, have forcibly disappeared so far.
Imran Khan's social media team is reportedly one of the most powerful and well-integrated teams in Asia.
The party's account on the social media platform X currently has 10.1 million followers.
PTI senior leader and Former Special Assistant to Imran Khan Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari stated on his X account, "Due to consistent international reporting of all the atrocities that are taking place in Pakistan, now my team is being abducted along with others."
"This continuous deterioration of basic human rights won't be allowed to continue for long," he added.
Bukhari further added, "We've formed a formidable legal team to help represent our international media & social media teams and their families who have been illegally abducted just to oppress our freedom of speech & press."
Bukhari also stated, "In the past two weeks, there has been a severe crackdown on PTI's social media. Due to consistent international reporting on the atrocities in Pakistan, my team and others are now being abducted. This continuous deterioration of basic human rights cannot be allowed to continue."
Following Khan's brief detention on corruption charges, PTI has been subjected to a crackdown for over a year due to violent protests and vandalism by its supporters. Subsequently, a significant number of high-ranking officials, including Khan himself, have been detained throughout the country and are now confronted with various legal proceedings.
- The story is written by Nathan Klabin and Dario Sanchez and reprinted with permission from The Media Line.