Journalist Matiullah Jan gets bail in terrorism case

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad granted post-arrest bail to senior journalist Matiullah Jan on Saturday in a terrorism and narcotics case.

ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra approved the bail against a surety bond worth Rs10,000.

A day earlier, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended the physical remand of Matullah Jan granted to police by the trial court.

On Nov 28, the ATC approved the physical remand of Jan over the case including charges of terrorism and drug possession. Jan was taken into custody over the FIR filed by the Margalla police on the complaint of Superintendent of Police Asif Ali.

The FIR mentioned that Matiullah in his white Toyota Yaris injured the police constable Mudassir intentionally after he was signaled to stop at the checkpost on Margalla Road in the E-9 sector.

Earlier, his family reported that Matiullah Jan, critical of the government’s handling of PTI protests, was apprehended along with fellow journalist Saqib Bashir at 11 pm on Wednesday. While Bashir was eventually released, Jan’s whereabouts remained unclear, his family said in a statement on social media.