The Lahore High Court (LHC) has granted bail to senior journalist Imran Riaz Khan and ordered his release, sources reported on Saturday. Riaz was arrested from Islamabad Toll Plaza late on Tuesday disregarding the fact that a court has already granted him a pre-arrest bail.
LHC Justice Ali Baqir Najafi heard the petition seeking quashment of cases registered against the RIaz and directed him to appear before the magistrate on the next working day.
The judge also remarked that the petitioner’s counsel has assured the court that Riaz will refrain from making any statement that would make the matters worse. Riaz assured the judge that he will not make any controversial statement.
After hearing the arguments, the court adjourned the hearing of the case till July 19 and granted bail to the journalist.
Police arrested him in response to a complaint filed to authorities in Punjab’s Attock. A court in Attock ordered that he be freed on Thursday, but police from Chawkal rearrested him outside the courtroom immediately after his release.
Attock police arrested Riaz the following day in Islamabad in response to a complaint filed by a man identified as Malik Mureed Abbas, citing an unspecified video on social media that featured him.
Dozen FIRs have been registered against him on charges as serious as abetment of mutiny and criticism of the state institutions. According to the penal code, those offences can carry prison sentences of two to seven years and an unspecified fine. On Thursday, a court ordered Imran Riaz to be released, but police immediately re-arrested him as part of an investigation that is “sealed” and the details of which have not been made public.
