Pakistan sentences journalists, YouTubers and ex-military officers to life over inciting violence

Supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan take cover after riot police officers fire tear gas to disperse them during clashes, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, March 15, 2023. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

ISLAMABAD — A court in Pakistan’s capital sentenced seven people, including three journalists, two YouTubers and two retired army officers, to life imprisonment on Friday, after convicting them of inciting violence during riots in 2023 and spreading hatred against state institutions.

An anti-terrorism court judge, Tahir Abbas Sipra, announced the verdict in Islamabad after completing trials held in absentia.

None of the accused were present in court. They have been living abroad after leaving the country in recent years to avoid arrest.

Those convicted include former editor Shaheen Sehbai; two other journalists, Sabir Shakir and Moeed Pirzada; YouTubers Wajahat Saeed Khan and Haider Raza Mehdi; and retired army officers Adil Raja and Akbar Hussain.

According to the court order, the charges against the men stemmed from the violent unrest that erupted in May 2023 following the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in a graft case.

At the time, thousands of Khan’s supporters attacked military installations, torched government property, ransacked the residence of a senior army officer and damaged the state-run Radio Pakistan building.

Khan was also indicted in 2024 on charges of inciting violence against military and government targets. He has denied the allegations. He was ousted from power by his political opponents through a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April 2022.

According to the prosecution, the seven men, who are known for publicly supporting Khan, had incited people to violence during the riots on May 9, 2023, when demonstrators targeted military installations, because Khan repeatedly blamed his removal on the United States and Pakistan’s military.

The U.S. government, the Pakistani military and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who replaced Khan after his ouster, have denied the allegations.

Sabir Shakir, who previously hosted a popular television program on ARY TV before leaving Pakistan, told The Associated Press on Friday that he was aware of his conviction in Pakistan. He said that he wasn’t in the country when police accused him of encouraging mob violence.

“The ruling against me and others is nothing but a political victimization,” Shakir said. He said he traveled to Saudi Arabia before the riots for a pilgrimage to Mecca and later went to Britain, where he sought political asylum after concluding that he could face what he described as “fabricated cases,” if he returned to Pakistan.

Shakir said that the court held the trial against him and the others without hearing arguments from his lawyer, and that he was handed two life sentences following the trial conducted in absentia.

The other convicted men couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Under the court order, the seven men have the right to file appeals within seven days. The court also directed police to arrest them and transfer them to prison should they return to Pakistan.

Human rights defenders and representatives of journalists’ unions say freedom of speech is shrinking in Pakistan, where the media have faced growing curbs in recent years. Sharif’s government says that it supports freedom of speech, but that YouTubers and journalists should also adhere to basic ethics and journalistic principles.

Munir Ahmed, The Associated Press