Memon, Thatta-based correspondent for the national English-language daily The Nation, was detained and severely tortured by law enforcement agents at the Islamabad airport. Memon had gone to Islamabad to inform Pakistan’s Chief Executive Gen. Pervez Musharraf of a crime he had witnessed in Thatta. (Local police were apparently unwilling to pursue the case) Memon was released three days later after his father intervened and brought him back to Thatta.
Memon died on December 16, apparently of injuries from his prolonged torture. Local journalists and members of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a well-respected nongovernmental organization, investigated the case and told CPJ that the tragedy was unrelated to Memon’s journalistic work.