A 73-year-old British-American author and journalist, who sought an interview with Pakistan's jailed former premier Imran Khan, has been deported after his tourist visa was revoked, a media report said on Thursday.
Charles Glass, an author, journalist, broadcaster, and publisher who specialises in the Middle East, was told by law enforcement agencies on Wednesday that his visa had been cancelled and he had five hours to leave the country, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Glass has served prominent media organisations such as Newsweek, ABC TV, and The Telegraph, among others, and currently works as a freelance journalist. He had been trying to secure a meeting with Khan.
Sources told the paper that Glass, who was recently spotted outside Adiala jail in Rawalpindi alongside Khan’s sister Aleema, was at the residence of Islamabad-based senior journalist Zahid Hussain when they were visited by a large police contingent.
Around noon on Wednesday, a team led by an assistant superintendent of police (ASP) arrived, initially saying they wanted to meet the foreign journalist.
They then informed Glass that his visa had been cancelled. After arguing for nearly an hour, the ASP reportedly told the journalist he had to leave the country by 5 pm.
"Mr Glass wondered how he would secure a flight and said his luggage is still at [his lodgings]. The ASP offered to accompany him to the hotel to collect his luggage and informed him that there was a flight to Abu Dhabi available at 4 pm, which he should take to leave the country. The ASP said he had a clear order to deport the journalist,” the paper quoted sources as saying.
Sources said that Glass was initially taken to his lodgings to collect his luggage, and then deported to the Middle East.
Shahzad Akbar, a former aide of ex-PM Imran Khan, also mentioned the incident on social media.
“There are reports of the deportation of British journalist Charles Glass who was visiting Pakistan to see @ImranKhanPTI at Adiala prison,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Sources said that Glass had been trying to secure an interview with Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, and it was possible that his tourist visa was cancelled because of this.
However, Kohsar police station chief Shafqat Faiz, in whose locality the journalist was staying, denied any such activity within their jurisdiction. The Dawn newspaper also reached out to Islamabad police chief Ali Nasir Rizvi for comment on the issue, but he did not respond.
His deportation has raised concerns about freedom of the press and access to information in Pakistan.
