Pakistani journalist probing Imran Khan protest casualties charged with terrorism, says lawyer

A Pakistani journalist investigating claims of casualties in a protest march demanding the release of jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan was picked up off the street on Wednesday night and charged with terrorism, according to a colleague and his lawyer.

Television host Matiullah Jan is known as a critic of the military's influence in Pakistani politics.

Hours before being picked up, he had done a TV show where he read from what he said were hospital records contradicting the government's denial that live ammunition had been used when security forces dispersed the protest, or that any protesters had been killed.

Jan's colleague Saqib Bashir said on Thursday that they had both been picked up by men wearing black uniforms from the car park of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad.

They were blindfolded and bundled into a car, he said, adding: "We were collecting data on the casualties."

Bashir was dropped off in a street three hours later.

Jan's son Abd-u-Razaq confirmed the account in a video statement, demanding authorities release his father.

His lawyer Imaan Mazari, however, said he had been charged with terrorism, drug peddling and attacking police.

"It is no less than a joke," she said. "There is not an iota of truth in these charges."

Jan had also been abducted for around 12 hours during Khan's rule in 2020.