New York, October 10, 2024—Pakistani authorities ordered a raid of the home and a 30-day detention of journalist Ihsan Naseem on Sunday, October 6, in Battagram district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on accusations of endangering public safety and encouraging members of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) to protest.
“The detention of journalist Ihsan Naseem under the pretext of public safety highlights the vulnerability of journalists in Pakistan and the oppressive nature of the country’s security apparatus,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Pakistani authorities must immediately release Naseem, drop all investigations against him, and stop their efforts to restrict journalists’ freedom to report the news.”
Naseem, editor-in-chief of local independent newspaper Daily Abbaseen Battagram and a reporter for the independent national TV station Neo News Battagram, was transferred to the central prison in Haripur, according to CPJ’s review of a copy of the raid order signed by Battagram Deputy Commissioner Asif Ali.
The PTM is a mass political movement that aims to boost the rights of the Pashtun people clustered in Pakistan’s western provinces.
The day he was arrested, Nassem reported on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government’s ban of the PTM and subsequent police raid on the political movement’s supporters. The day before, Naseem interviewed the sisters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan hours before police arrested them in the capital, Islamabad.
CPJ’s WhatsApp messages to Ali requesting comment on his order to raid and detain Nassem did not receive a reply.