In a press release, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned a Pakistani businessman’s “unacceptable” threats against a newspaper editor in response to a story implicating him in a prominent corruption scandal and calls on Pakistan’s government to guarantee the journalist’s safety.

According to RSF, the story published by Salam under his own by-line provided evidence that Farah Gogi, a close friend of then Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wife, flew to Dubai on 29 April 2019 aboard a plane owned by Bahria Town, Riaz’s construction company. The timing of the trip is important because it coincided with the sale in Dubai of a diamond jewellery set that Khan had received from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Imran Khan is said to have sold the jewellery for two million dollars in violation of regulations stipulating that gifts received by government representatives from foreign leaders belong to the state.

... Hamza Azhar said, “The implication of my story” was that Bahria Town CEO Malik Riaz “actively facilitated an act of corruption by Farah Gogi that ultimately benefited then Prime Minister Imran Khan and his family.” “Malik Riaz’s family has a history of using armed goons to intimidate people. I have been advised to change residence frequently and to limit my contact with the outside world. I’m still trying to lead a normal life, but I live in fear because of the threats from Bahria Town,” Salam told RSF.

... In the threatening phone call, the [Bahria Town] representative warned Salam of dire consequences and a route “alternate to legal routes” if he did not delete certain tweets. “I offered to publish Bahria Town’s complete version, however, the representative did not seem interested in a reasonable conversation and proceeded to issue threats to my life,” Hamza Azhar Salam told The Pakistan Daily minutes after the threatening call...