Matiullah | Pakistan

An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad issued a notice to police on Friday on an application for the provision of documents in a narcotics and terrorism case registered against senior journalist Matiullah Jan. The case, registered at Margalla Police Station on November 28 last year, accuses the journalist of snatching a government-issued rifle, hitting a vehicle at a police barrier and possessing narcotics. Initiation of legal proceedings against Jan has drawn strong criticism from journalist bodies and rights groups, who maintain that he is being targeted for investigating reports of alleged deaths during law enforcement action against PTI protesters in November last year. At the outset of the hearing today, lawyer Mian Ali Ashfaq submitted a power of attorney to Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra on behalf of Jan. He also contended that the journalist had been “portrayed as a terrorist” in the case. Judge Sipra remarked that the other side needed to be heard as well and issued a notice to police for November 8 on an app...