Imran Khan Protests: Journalists Sentenced to Life Imprisonment

Today, Friday, a court in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, sentenced 7 people to life imprisonment – three journalists, two YouTube content makers, and two retired military personnel – after convicting them of inciting violence during riots that the country witnessed in 2023 and of spreading hatred against state institutions.

Judge Taher Abbas Sabra in the Anti-Terrorism Court announced the ruling after trials that took place in absentia, as none of the defendants attended the session because they were all abroad since they left the country during the past two years to avoid being arrested.

The list of those sentenced included journalist Shaheen Sahbi, journalists Saber Shaker and Moeed Pirzada, YouTube content creators Saeed Khan and Haider Reza Mehdi, in addition to retired military personnel Adil Raja and Akbar Hussein.

The charges came against the backdrop of the violent unrest that broke out in May 2023 following the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in a corruption case, as thousands of his supporters attacked military sites and government property, and destroyed the Pakistani government radio building.

Since then, the government and military in Pakistan have launched a massive campaign against Imran Khan’s party and opposition voices, using anti-terrorism laws and military trials to prosecute hundreds of people accused of incitement and attacks on state institutions.

In its ruling, the court said that the defendants’ actions “fall within the scope of terrorism” under Pakistani law, and that the materials they published online fueled “fear and disorder” in society.

For his part, Saeed Khan, who resides in New York, said in a statement that he “did not receive any subpoena, was not informed of any procedures, and was not contacted by the court,” considering that “this ruling is not justice, but rather a political farce that was carried out without regard to legal procedures, jurisdiction, or credibility.”

In 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) considered that the investigations against these people “amount to the level of retaliation for critical coverage,” and the Committee’s Asia Program Coordinator, Beh Lieh Yee, called on the Pakistani authorities to immediately drop these investigations and stop what she described as a policy of intimidation and ongoing censorship against the media.

Khan, 73, has been serving multiple prison sentences since 2023 for his conviction on corruption and other charges that the former cricket star and his supporters claim are aimed at derailing his political career.

Imran Khan was ousted from his position as Prime Minister, in a vote of no confidence in Parliament, in April 2022, and Pakistan witnessed clashes between Khan’s supporters and security forces after his imprisonment.