A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has sentenced in absentia eight journalists and social media commentators to life imprisonment following their conviction of terrorism-related offences. These charges are linked to online activity in support of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan. One convicted journalist, who lives in New York, said that he was never notified of any proceedings.
On January 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a statement entitled "Harassed at home, convicted abroad: Pakistan steps up prosecution of overseas journalists":
Pakistan’s government has stepped up the use of in absentia convictions and arrest warrants against Pakistani journalists living overseas since late 2025, highlighting an escalating crackdown by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government on critical reporting and commentary that extends beyond domestic borders…
“Pakistan’s repression of journalists has now reached a global scale, leaving journalists unsafe and unable to report freely or even express their views on events back home," said CPJ’s Asia-Pacific Director Beh Lih Yi.
Meanwhile, on January 23, Pakistani human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari-Hazir was arrested alongside her husband, fellow lawyer Hadi Ali Chattha. A day later, an Islamabad court sentenced the couple to a total of 17 years in prison on multiple charges in a case pertaining to social media posts.
The organization Frontline Defenders describes Imaan Mazari, 32, as "a human rights lawyer and woman human rights defender who has been active in supporting victims of violence and persecution to seek legal redress. She is a vocal advocate for the rights of persecuted religious and ethnic communities and against human rights violations and abuse especially by the Pakistan military and security forces."
Mazari-Hazir and Chattha were taken into custody while they were moving from the Islamabad High Court, according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. They were accompanied by the Islamabad High Court Bar president and secretary at the time of their arrest.
"Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha have been arrested and put in separate cars and taken away to unknown locations," her mother, politician and former minister Shireen Mazari, wrote on X.
Hours later, Mazari said on X that she was unaware of their whereabouts. "Our lawyers had taken water and some dry fruit for them & medicine for Imaan but were denied access." Mazari added that the police used violence against the couple during their arrest.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan strongly condemned the couple's arrest and called for their immediate release. "Arresting lawyers in the presence of the bar leadership and taking them to an undisclosed police station constitutes grave abuse of authority and contempt for due process," it wrote on X.
In striking contrast, actual terrorists in Pakistan who call for violence and jihad roam free. Members and leaders of UN-designated terrorist organizations are completely allowed to spread their pro-jihad messages and organize pro-jihad events across the country.
The chief of the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Maulana Masood Azhar, addressed an event on Nov. 2, 2025, at the Ijtimah (Islamic gathering) held for JeM’s members. During his speech, Masood appealed to the people to "join the jihad in the light of the Quran."
In addition, an audio clip containing the speech of senior JeM leader, Maulana Talha Al-Saif (brother of JeM Chief Maulana Masood Azhar), has surfaced. The audio reflects his remarks while delivering Khutba Juma (Friday Sermon) at a mosque in the District of Bahawalpur on October 10, 2025. Maulana Talha Al-Saif said, “Use your Zakat (religious tax) in the way of Jihad, for the construction of Mosques, to help Mujahideen [jihadists] and other needy Muslims."
In 2020, India Today reported:
Prominent JeM's members have been participating and addressing gatherings on Friday congregations and recently on Eid-ul-Azha too. Some JeM leaders have also participated in religious conferences.
JeM leader Maulana Talha Al-Saif has been making Friday sermons regularly which are uploaded on a YouTube channel called “IslamiVoices Official”. Some of these speeches have advocated the killing of US and International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials. In his YouTube recordings, he also regularly asks for donations to wage jihad in Kashmir.
Pakistan continues to see an alarming resurgence of terror groups, particularly JeM, across the country. A "maktoob" (write-up) dated Oct. 6, 2025, titled “Al-Maunaat Iman Wali Khwateen Apna Maqam Aur Kam Samjhen” (Let the believing women understand their position and their work) was released by JeM Chief Maulana Masood Azhar. He said that the "believer men and the believer women are the helpers of one another, which means they are one organization and they have five things to do." He explained:
"Hypocrites spread sin and evil, prevent Jihad, do not donate Zakat, and are lazy in their prayers, whereas believers give Zakat, offer regular prayers, believe in Jihad, serve Jihad and go out for Jihad." He added: "If hypocritical men and women are busy with their work, why can’t believers cooperate with each other in Jihad and protecting Islam?" He further stated that "believers among women have to take responsibility for opening the doors of victory."
Training sessions, meetings, workshops, and other events are often organized by JeM, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), as well as their proxies such as Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML). The events occur across Pakistan, during which pro-jihad and anti-India statements are freely shared, and participants are further indoctrinated. Leaders and representatives of those terrorist organizations also deliver sermons at mosques.
For instance, a banner advertised the “Khutba Juma” (Friday Sermon) at a mosque in Lahore, on September 26, 2025. A LeT/JuD leader and Deputy President of PMML, Hafiz Talha Saeed, addressed the event.
India-administered Kashmir is among the primary targets of those jihadist groups. The Resistance Front (TRF)-affiliated Jhelum Media House (JMH), for instance, issued a statement on August 16, 2025, in which it criticized "the influx of non-locals" [in reference to non-Muslims] in Kashmir. The statement added that the act of “the Resistance Fighters” targeting non-locals is an "endeavor to protect Kashmir’s culture and well-being."
In July 2025, the United States Government officially declared the Resistance Front (TRF), which is behind the 22 April Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity.
Besides Pahalgam, TRF has been involved in several high-profile terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. Notably, this includes the June 2024 Reasi bus attack on Hindu pilgrims that left nine people dead, as well as the October 2024 killing of six migrant workers in Ganderbal. Previous attacks also include the killing of army and police officers in Anantnag in September 2023 and the assassination of a BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader and his family in Bandipora in July 2020.
Meanwhile, the TRF-affiliated group "Falcon Squad" issued a statement on Oct. 4, 2025. They urged their fighters to identify and eliminate targets in Kashmir. This includes police stations where personnel’s family members live nearby, tehsil offices facilitating non-locals in acquiring local land, non-local contractors, railway lines, especially bridges, any collaborator, non-local employees, and any tourist who visits the Kashmir Valley.
"Falcon Squad" issued another statement on Oct. 8, 202,5 in which it said that the group’s "hesitance to avoid spilling blood should not be seen as its weakness". It added that "the rotten roots will be removed," only then Kashmir will be supposedly "free" and further cryptically indicating to attack its targets who have been "given enough time to repent."
Killed terrorists are also freely commemorated in Pakistan. The "Falcon Squad" on Nov. 16, 2025, issued a statement in which it paid tribute to suicide bomber Umer Nabi involved in the Delhi blast (which occurred on Nov. 10, 2025).
The “Shohada Conference” (Martyrs Conference) was organized in memory of Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen (HM)’s killed militant Nauman in the district of Upper Dir on Aug. 6, 2025. Markaz Amir (the chief) of HM (Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen) Pakistan, Syed Taj Ali Shah, and the chief of Jamat-e-Islami (JeI) of Upper Dir, Sahibzada Fasih Ullah, addressed the event.
Meanwhile, the Spokesperson of the United Jihad Council (UJC), Syed Sadaqat Hussain, issued a statement on Sept. 18, 2025, on behalf of the Supreme Commander of the terror group Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen (HM) and the Chairman of UJC, Syed Salahuddin Ahmad. The statement pays tribute to Abdul Ghani Butt, leader of the Islamic "All Parties Hurriyat Conference" (APHC). Ahmad said that Ghani Butt emerged as an effective and active leader of the Muslim United Front in 1987, and in 1993, he was elected chairman of the APHC. Ahmad also paid tribute to "his sacrifices for the Kashmiri people, especially youths."
Laws are misused in Pakistan to target media workers to investigate, summon, and jail them for their coverage critical of state institutions. During their trials, dissident journalists face significant restrictions on their personal freedoms, with authorities imposing financial, travel, and other barriers. Real terrorists, however, are free to fundraise, recruit, indoctrinate, and train their members to advance the violent cause of jihad, which includes ethnic cleansing, terrorism, imperialism, and territorial expansionism. The West's considering Pakistan a "strategic, major non-NATO ally" simply demonstrates how disoriented, unprincipled, and uninformed Western foreign policy is in the wider region of South Asia.
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