Imran Riaz Khan is a Pakistani journalist, anchorperson, and YouTuber.
Early Life and Education
He was born on August 14, 1975, in Faisalabad, Punjab. After he received his primary education at the Lahore Grammar School, he went on to study mass communication at the Punjab University.
Career
Imran Riaz Khan began his career as a crime reporter for the local newspaper.
He then became a news anchor for the Express News channel. He has also served as a current affairs host for the television channels GNN and Samaa TV.
He started his YouTube channel “Imran Riaz Khan” in 2020, and it now has over 4.08 million subscribers.
Arrests
First Arrest
On 5 July 2022, Imran Riaz was heading to the Federal capital to get bail from the Islamabad High Court and was detained when Punjab Police surrounded his car before he could leave Punjab jurisdiction.
Riaz later posted a video on YouTube stating that if he is not released, he will release the names of everyone involved in the alleged regime change operation in which foreign influence triggered a constitutional crisis, eventually leading to the ouster of Imran Khan’s PTI government, when the former Prime Minister was removed from office in what he calls a “American conspiracy” against Pakistan’s sovereignty.
Riaz was critical of the Shehbaz Sharif-led government the day before his arrest, posting a video to YouTube in which he directly addressed Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and alleged that he was threatened after asking questions from military sources about the country’s current political and economic situation. Riaz further stated that his family is the target of threats.
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan strongly condemned the “arbitrary arrest” and urged the public and the media to “unite and stand up against this fascism.”
On 9 July 2022, he was granted bail by Lahore High Court Judge Justice Baqar Najafi. The FIA added his name to the Exit Control List at the request of the police.
Second Arrest
On February 2nd, 2023, he was detained again on allegations of hate speech and uttering a violence-inducing statement with the intent of establishing a schism between the general public and the state institutions, but was released a week later.
Third Arrest and Disappearance
Following the May 9 unrest, he was arrested by Punjab Police from Sialkot Airport on May 11, 2023. The police then reported that despite a 30-day detention notice, he had been released from jail the same night. Following his release, CCTV footage showed Riaz being taken from outside the prison by 4-5 unidentified men wearing masks and forcing him into a Toyota Vigo.
A case was filed at Lahore High Court. It was heard by Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti. During a hearing on May 22, 2023, the police chief of Punjab, Usman Anwar, appeared clueless about the whereabouts of the missing journalists and pleaded with the court for additional time to locate him. Anwar stated in another court hearing that no police station in Pakistan has Imran Riaz in their custody, adding, No one has Imran Riaz and Imran Riaz Khan was not wanted by us.
On May 27, 2023, Daniel Bastard of the France-based global watchdog Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, said in a statement they had received information from diplomatic sources that the missing journalist was tortured and may have died in detention by Pakistan’s military.
Usman Anwar testified in court on May 30, 2023, that Imran Riaz’s kidnappers used Afghan SIM cards and that the police were unable to track them down. Anwar also informed the court that the Punjab Police has constituted a special group to locate the missing journalist.
Usman Anwar, the Inspector General of Punjab Police, announced on September 25, 2023, that Khan was finally safe at home after having gone missing for more than four months.