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The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Pakistani authorities to immediately and unconditionally release journalist Asad Ali Toor and to cease harassing him for his journalistic work.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Pakistan arrested the citizen journalist after he was summoned to appear before court on Monday. Toor was ordered to appear before court under the allegations of an "explicit and malicious" campaign against Supreme Court judges, a report by the committee to protect journalists stated quoting Toor's lawyer, Imaan Mazari-Hazir. An independent journalist, Toor operates a YouTube channel named 'Asad Toor Uncensored' with over 1,60,000 subscribers, covering the political affairs of Pakistan. The CPJ in the report further called upon the Pakistani authorities to release the citizen journalist immediately and unconditionally. The report also demanded that Pakistan cease harassing him for his journalistic work. According to the report, the FIA has disallowed Hazir to meet and accompany his client during the questioning. Hazir also narrated that "FIA subsequently locked its entrance door and turned off the lights of the building. Then, an FIA official emerged from the building and informed the lawyers of the journalist's arrest." It handed the lawyers a handwritten note from Toor, demanding that his 78-year-old mother be sent to a relative's home, the CPJ report stated. According to a statement given by Hazir to the CPJ, the FIA has not provided the journalist's lawyer with a copy of the first information report (FIR) filed against him even on Tuesday. Earlier on Friday, authorities detained and questioned Toor without access to legal representation at the FIA cybercrime wing headquarters, according to news reports, Mazari-Hazir, and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ before his arrest. Toor was released around eight hours later and received a notice shortly thereafter to appear for questioning on Monday. Toor also filed a petition, reviewed by CPJ, on Monday asking the Islamabad High Court to declare the FIA notices in relation to both summons for questioning as unlawful, order the agency to provide a list of allegations against the journalist, and not to harass or unlawfully detain him. However, the Chief Justice of Pakistan released an order supporting Toor, assuring that "he must be present for the FIA's inquiry but will not be harassed." Pakistani authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Toor and ensure that journalists do not face retaliation for their critical reporting on institutions, including the judiciary," CPJ Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna stated. Six plainclothes men were present during the February 23 questioning, but Toor was not sure what agency they were from, he told CPJ, adding that the men refused to identify themselves when Toor requested. "Furthermore, the men did not provide a list of allegations or a copy of any complaint against the journalist when asked," Toor told CPJ, adding that the men questioned him about "why he criticized the chief justice of the Supreme Court, where he received information for his reporting and information about his journalistic sources." They also threatened Toor with raiding his home, detaining him, and confiscating his devices, the journalist told CPJ. Prominent Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir also seconded the notion by stating on social media platform X, "Pakistani authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Toor and ensure that journalists do not face retaliation for their critical reporting on institutions, including the judiciary." https://twitter.com/HamidMirPAK/status/1762303602704384507?s=20 However, this is not the first such episode with the journalist. Toor had previously been beaten, bound, and gagged by three unidentified men inside his Islamabad apartment in May 2021. According to the same CPJ report, one of those men identified himself as an agent of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. (ANI)
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