By Canadian Press

TV reporter goes missing in southern Pakistan

Oct 24, 2020 | 6:19 AM

ISLAMABAD — A reporter working for Pakistan’s leading Geo News television has gone missing in the southern port city of Karachi, family and colleagues said Saturday.

Geo bureau chief in Karachi, Fahim Siddiqi, said police registered the journalist’s disappearance as an “abduction” case without naming suspects.

Ali Imran Syed, 40, left home late Friday evening telling his wife that he would be back in half an hour but did not return.

Azhar Abbas, head of the Geo TV, said he has contacted provincial and federal authorities “to help trace the missing reporter” and “ensure his safety”.

Siddiqi said the reporter’s abduction may have been related to his work on recent political events, including the arrest of an opposition leader who is the son-in-law of former premier Nawaz Sharif.

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Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said in a tweet no one should “disappear in a democracy”.

Pakistani media has been facing renewed pressure from state agencies that have sought to control the topics covered by the media and even restrict the selection of guests for TV talk shows.

Journalists and press freedom advocates often accuse the Pakistani military and security agencies of pressuring media outlets to prevent critical coverage.

In December last year, a Karachi based reporter with the Express Tribune newspaper, Bilal Farooqi, was arrested on charges of spreading hateful content against the country’s military on social media.

In July, Matiullah Jan was briefly detained. Jan is known for criticism of Pakistan’s military and security agencies.

The Associated Press