KARACHI, JUN 2: A protest was held outside the Karachi Press Club on Friday against the “unjust abduction” of activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir, who was “picked up by unidentified men” last night.
A number of human rights activists and lawyers participated in the demonstration and chanted slogans for ‘freedom’. They also held placards and banners inscribed with ‘Release Jibran Nasir’.
The protest was organised by a joint action committee composed of civil society organisations. “It is time to demand his immediate release and ensure that justice prevails,” it said in a statement earlier today.
In a statement issued earlier today, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah raised concerns over Nasir’s “disappearance” and sought a report from the police chief. He also directed the police to expedite efforts to recover the lawyer.
Sindh IG Ghulam Nabi Memon told Dawn.com, “We have received a complaint from Jibran Nasir’s family and the police are trying to trace him.”
FIR registered
A first information report (FIR) was also later lodged at the Clifton police station.
The complaint registered by Nasir’s wife Mansha Pasha, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, invokes sections 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
In it, Pasha said, “On June 1, 2023, I was heading home with my husband when a white Toyota Vigo — with the registration number BF-4356 — hit our car from the front and blocked the way near Ideal Bakery at Khayaban-e-Tanzeem.”
“Along with it, a silver Corolla hit our car from the back and stopped it. Around 10-15 armed men dressed in civil clothes started behaving forcefully with my husband and fled after putting my husband, Jibran Nasir, in their car,” she said.
Pasha further demanded that legal action should be taken against the “10-15 people who abducted my husband, Jibran Nasir, for unknown reasons and took him away”.
A day earlier, Pasha also detailed the events in a video message, seeking prayers for her husband’s safety and calling for his “swift recovery”.
Nasir, who contested the 2018 general elections from Karachi as an independent candidate, has been vocal in his criticism of the recent state crackdown on the PTI as well as the legal process involving those who allegedly took part in the riots. He was listed in 2013 by the Foreign Policy Magazine amongst three Pakistanis doing inspirational work against sectarian violence.
Last week, senior journalist Sami Abraham was taken away by unidentified men in Islamabad and returned home six days later. His brother Ali Raza had filed a complaint of abduction at Aabpara Police Station.
Meanwhile, anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan, who was arrested on May 11 from Sialkot airport by law-enforcement agencies on charges of hate speech after violent protests erupted countrywide in the wake of PTI chief Imran Khan’s arrest and then picked up by ‘unknown persons’ upon release, is still missing.
Condemnations
Several activists, lawyers and journalists have condemned Jibran’s “abduction” and called for his immediate release.
In a tweet today, Amnesty International said: “Jibran Nasir’s abduction is yet another case that the country has seen in recent weeks in the wake of authorities cracking down on critical voices following violent clashes during Imran Khan’s arrest.”
It called on authorities to “expeditiously and impartially” investigate and determine Jibran’s whereabouts.
“If in state custody, Jibran must either be released immediately or if there is sufficient evidence, produce him in a civilian court, and charge him with an internationally recognisable offence,” the human rights watchdog added.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) demanded the immediate and safe recovery of the lawyer.
Special Assistant to the Prime minister Salman Sufi termed the news “disturbing” and hoped that the Sindh police would assist the lawyer’s family.
“Jibran has always spoken against violent extremism and rioting. Hoping for his safe and immediate return,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Minister for Climate Change and PPP leader Sherry Rehman called for “due legal process” to be followed.
The Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) also strongly condemned the “abduction” of the lawyer.
In an official press release, the association said, “The said act is calculated to undermine the independence of the rule of law and to intimidate the legal fraternity.”
The SHCBA called upon the police and the relevant authorities to investigate the incident, “arrest the culprits and make safe recovery” of Nasir as soon as possible. “However, in case of failure, the association will decide his next course of action,” it added.
