Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday slammed police for the kidnapping of journalist Matiullah Jan, saying that the entire state was responsible for the incident.
The IHC was conducting the hearing of a petition regarding the journalist’s abduction. Jan was kidnapped from outside his wife’s school and remained missing for about 12 hours before he returned.
“The way a journalist was picked up in broad daylight, have all institutions been destroyed?” asked IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah. “How did anyone, wearing a police uniform, dare to abduct a person?”
The chief justice said that chaos would spread throughout the country if the rule of law did not prevail. “Where was Islamabad Police? How could this happen in the federal capital?” wondered the chief justice. “What perception does this send to the common person, that people here are walking about in police uniforms [without fear]?” he stated angrily.
The chief justice said that this case pertained to the freedom of speech and the press. He said that crimes against journalists should end now.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Wednesday took notice of Matiullah Jan’s abduction from the capital a day ago and directed the Islamabad police chief to submit a report on the incident in two weeks.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, was hearing a suo motu case pertaining to alleged contemptuous tweets by Jan.
