Pakistani journalist’s YouTube channel blocked, under investigation in drive against exiled media
New York, May 16, 2025—Pakistani authorities must immediately restore access to exiled investigative journalist Ahmad Noorani’s YouTube channel in Pakistan and stop law enforcement agencies harassing him and his family, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “Blocking journalist Ahmad Noorani’s YouTube channel and filing a criminal case against him is indicative of Pakistan’s relentless…
Pakistani journalist Waheed Murad seized from home in the night
Editor’s Note: On 28 March, an Islamabad court granted Waheed Murad bail and he was released directly from court on a surety bond of 20,000 rupees (US$71), his lawyer Imaan Mazari told CPJ. New York, March 27, 2025—Pakistani authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Waheed Murad, who was taken away by masked men who…
Pakistan authorities detain Raftar founder Farhan Mallick in Karachi
Editor’s note: On March 24, FIA officials raided Raftar’s office and seized Farhan Mallick’s work computer and USB drives, according to a post on X by the media outlet, which called the raid a direct assault on independent journalism. New York, March 21, 2025—Pakistani authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Farhan Mallick, detained in Karachi Thursday by…
Exiled Pakistani journalist’s brothers ‘abducted,’ another journalist disappears
New York, March 20, 2025—Pakistani authorities must immediately reveal the whereabouts of journalist Asif Karim Khehtran and the brothers of U.S.-based exiled Pakistani journalist Ahmad Noorani, and cease their intimidation of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Around midnight on March 18, about two dozen individuals, identifying themselves as police, forcibly entered…
Pakistani journalists Ahmad Noorani and Shahid Aslam targeted in leak case
New York, June 8, 2023–Pakistan authorities must cease harassing journalists Ahmad Noorani and Shahid Aslam and allow them to work without interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. In late May, Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) issued an investigative report, which CPJ reviewed, accusing the journalists of involvement in illegally accessing the tax records…
At-risk journalists who must flee home countries often find few quick and safe options
In 2018, journalist Mohammad Shubaat was in Daraa, Syria, caught between advancing forces aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the closed borders of Israel and Jordan. Despite the dire threat to Shubaat and many of his colleagues, it would take over a year of intense negotiations with some 20 countries by the Committee to…
Pakistani journalists receive death threats after reporting called ‘fake news’ in TV program
Washington, D.C., September 1, 2020 — Pakistani authorities should investigate threats made to journalists Ahmad Noorani and Gul Bukhari and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 27, Noorani, a co-founder and reporter at the independent investigative news website FactFocus, published an article that used pubic records to…
Silence from judiciary over media attacks increases self-censorship, Pakistan’s journalists say
When it comes to the military and the judiciary, Pakistan’s journalists are “between a rock and a hard place,” Zohra Yusuf, of the independent non-profit Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told CPJ. In recent months the judiciary, which has a history of siding with Pakistan’s powerful military, has remained largely silent amid attempts to censor…
Pakistani journalist attacked in Islamabad; three attacks on media groups in Balochistan
New York, October 27, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Pakistani authorities to swiftly investigate and bring to justice perpetrators of multiple attacks against journalist and news organizations in the country this week. Journalist Ahmed Noorani was badly beaten in Islamabad, and three different attacks were reported in the southwestern Balochistan province amid…