Introduction
The first real sign of a government descending into authoritarianism is that freedom of speech, and freedom of media starts to decline. It starts with censorship, and nudges for the press to be less critical of the government.
It might just be gentle advice that the press should highlight some issues and not others. This is how it usually goes. Well, as the saying goes, the way to boil a frog is to do it slow. And slowly, these nudges turn to threats and jail sentences. Until they start disappearing, never to be seen again.
The blatant and brutal murder of Jamal Kashoggi has been the biggest wake-up call for the public about how much of a thorn some journalists can be in the sides of some very powerful people.
“The number of countries regarded as safe, where journalists can work in complete security, continues to decline, while authoritarian regimes continue to tighten their grip on the media,” report from Reporters without Borders, 2019.
Journalists serve as the canaries in a coal mine, letting the people know when things become as they should not be. Now, they are not exactly angels, and many have biased takes, but any time a journalist is targeted it is a matter of principle. Especially if these journalists are outspoken against the ones in power.
In older democracies, and developed nations, the rulers are kept in check by the press and the public working in tandem. They work to try and keep the government in line, and are protected by free-speech laws and the like. And so, a journalist working in these areas can expect to be rewarded for what they do and are also relatively safer.
Conversely, younger democracies and the third world finds itself in a bad spot when it comes to journalism. Authoritarian regimes in the middle-east or well, the east (China and North Korea) keep a strict check on any journalistic endeavors that paint them in a bad light.
The Chinese have laws prohibiting social media use and criticizing the CCP in general, North Korea will punish the whole family if the government is critiqued by a journalist (there is basically no journalism in North Korea, and even China, that is not state sponsored and censored) whilst the example of Kashoggi is enough for anyone about where Saudi Arabia stands.
Coming to places like Myanmar, journalists are imprisoned depending on what regime is in place and thankfully the international community has been more steadfast about critiquing the government about this, allowing for some journalists to be released from prison quite recently.
Coming to Pakistan, there has been a few worrying instances of the state targeting media persons for what seems to be critiquing the government.
Now, this is not exactly a new thing, considering that much of the history of this nation involved military rule (overtly and covertly) and arrests that seem to be reprisals against incumbent governments by the new people in charge.
Recently, a very influential and popular journalist, Imran Riaz Khan was arrested and subsequently released after a lot of public outcry. Let us take a look at this case and the context around it to understand the state of freedom of speech in the country, especially when it comes to the specific issue of freedom of press and media.
What happened?
For context, Pakistan recently went through a regime change that was very obviously spurred by Imran Khan’s poor decision making during the Ukraine crisis (and deteriorating relations with his allies and the military). This was largely seen as the country kissing the ring of its foreign masters and has been a very unpopular change considering the popularity of Imran Khan in the country.
Some of the media has been painting the new regime in a negative light whilst some has been painting the now deposed Imran in a negative light. Or are labelled as such even when they are doing some honest reporting. In any case, the current political climate is quite charged and in situations like these the influence of the popular media houses and journalists tends to rise.
Why was Imran Riaz Arrested?
Now let us talk about Mr. Imran Riaz himself. Having served as an anchor-person for GNN, Express, and Samaa, he is quite well known across Pakistan’s living rooms and dhabas as a popular news celebrity of sorts. He is not restricted to traditional media either, with a popular YouTube channel that has almost three million subscribers. Needless to say, he is a well-known journalist and media personality with quite a lot of sway and respect in the news-media sphere.
Imran Riaz used his platforms to critique the regime change and was quite outspoken on the matter in the time following the unpopular change. He ended up pointing fingers and making remarks that were sensitive in nature. Mainly he openly classified the regime change as an “American Conspiracy” and hinted at knowing information that proved it as such.
Critically, he began hinting that the military was involved in orchestrating the regime change in tandem with PML-N, PPP and other parties that were previously in the opposition.
Unsurprisingly, for his critique of the new regime, a case was filed against him in the Civil Lines Police Station in Lahore. An individual named Mohammad Asif filed a complaint against Imran Riaz.
Multiple Cases
The FIR stated that Imran Riaz had incited the public towards violence, had attempted to incite military officials against the senior cadre, and there was mention that the Army Chief was also maligned, thus targeting the integrity of the state and the military.
Mr. Imran was then arrested on his way to Islamabad after already having been granted pre-arrest bail. This caused a lot of outcry by the public, PTI, and the journalist community both at home and abroad. This was followed by him being released and re-arrested at least once in a confusion of jurisdiction and seventeen more cases that followed the initial case in Lahore. He was initially arrested by Attock Police, and then after his release was arrested by Chakwal Police and shifted to Lahore where he was imprisoned for some days amid confusion and duress.
The main issue was that all of the cases were similar in nature, and by law either these cases have to be compiled into a single FIR or quashed (as per the plea by Imran’s legal team) since most of the contents of the cases was the same. There was a lot of confusion regarding which FIRs were being acted upon and which court had jurisdiction over the matter.
However, it now seems that the situation is better since the Lahore High Court has dismissed charges of treason against Imran and he was released to a triumphant reception by the Chakwal Police awaiting legal proceedings.
In Conclusion
It is hoped that this case sets some legal precedent after Imran Riaz has all the charges dropped against him instead of a seven-year imprisonment (the proposed punishment for his actions). The way forward for any developing nation is to keep the people in power in check so that corruption and mismanagement can be rooted out. Whether it be by the PTI, the PPP, PML-N, Government Institutions or any other organization, the extra-judicial censorship and muzzling of the media is to be condemned from all sides.
