Pro-Imran Khan Pakistani TV journalist abducted last week freed

No one has claimed responsibility for Sami Abrahim’s abduction, but it is widely believed that he was detained by security forces.

A prominent Pakistani television journalist who went missing last week, apparently because of his public support for former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has returned home after being released by his captors, his family and employer said.

Sami Abrahim’s brother, Ali Raza, took to Twitter early Tuesday to confirm his release. BOL TV also confirmed its release in a news announcement.

“Grateful to God,” he tweeted this morning in Urdu after his release.

Abrahim went missing on Thursday when eight people in four vehicles intercepted his car on his way home from work in the capital, Islamabad, and took him away, according to his family and BOL TV, where Abrahim works.

No one had claimed responsibility for Abrahim’s abduction, but it is widely believed he was held by the country’s security forces, which are notorious for kidnapping, harassing and torturing journalists.

Abrahim has long publicly opposed the government of Khan’s successor, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Khan, a former cricketer who served from 2018 to 2022, was removed last year by a vote of no confidence in parliament.

Another pro-Khan TV journalist, Imran Riaz, went missing earlier this month and has yet to be released.

A court in Lahore will hold a plea on his disappearance later on Tuesday.