The family of a Canadian University of Toronto PhD student is concerned after he was arrested in Pakistan while conducting research for his dissertation. 

Hamza Ahmed Khan, a dual Canadian-Pakistani citizen, travelled to Pakistan in December to interview experts on the politics of democracy promotion in Muslim-majority societies in Lahore, where he was staying with a friend, and Islamabad. 

He was expected to arrive in Karachi Thursday morning to spend Ramadan with his family but never showed.

The family learned Sunday from a Pakistani journalist that Ahmed Khan was taken into custody by the country’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA). Now, he’s in prison.

“It’s the worst conditions that you can imagine,” Ahmed Khan’s brother, Awes Ahmed Khan, told CBC Toronto Tuesday. “It’s multiple people in a single cell. … It’s [not] fit for a decent human person.”

NCCIA points to ‘inflammatory’ social media posts

The NCCIA’s official report notes Ahmed Khan has been in their custody since Saturday because, during a routine cyber patrol, it found that his X and Instagram accounts were “disseminating misinformation and disinformation targeting state institutions.”

“The nature of these posts is inflammatory and appears designed to incite public unrest, spread animosity, and undermine social order,” the report said. “The propagation of such malicious content poses a significant risk, with the potential to cause severe reputational damage to the state of Pakistan both domestically and internationally.”

Awes disputes that characterization, saying his brother is balanced and simply uses social media as a means to engage in intellectual discussion.

“He’s a person who’s very articulate. He talks with rhetoric,” he said. “He debates with people sometimes on critical issues and a lot of times those issues are related to his background.”

Ahmed Khan is being held in the Lahore district jail under the country’s 2016 Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act. Awes says his brother appeared before a magistrate on Sunday, which ordered he be held for at least 14 days.

Family’s lawyer disputes official timeline

While the NCCIA’s report says Ahmed Khan has been in official custody since Saturday, his friend in Lahore told Awes he initially went missing Thursday morning during a trip with ride-hailing service Yango. 

The family reached out to Yango, which told them Ahmed Khan’s trip was cancelled halfway through. CBC Toronto has reached out to the NCCIA, Yango and the Consulate General of Pakistan in Toronto for comment.

The family’s lawyer, Asad Jamal, said Ahmed Khan was “abducted” on Thursday, not arrested, because it wasn’t done in the “right, legal way.”

“He was not informed about the circumstances and the reasons for being taken into custody,” he said.

U of T concerned, in touch with family

Awes said the family hasn’t been able to ask Ahmed Khan where he actually was from Thursday to Saturday. 

In a statement to CBC Toronto, Global Affairs Canada said it is aware of the situation but cannot provide further information due to privacy considerations. Meanwhile, U of T vice-provost Sandy Welsh said the university is also concerned.

“Our priority is his safety and wellbeing, and we are in contact with his family and Canadian officials to support his return to Canada,” Welsh said in a statement.

Pakistan has been under a cycle of military dictatorships and weak civilian governance for decades, said McMaster University professor Ahmed Shafiqul Huque.

“Anything that the rulers perceived to contribute to an outcome that will undermine their position will be pulled up as [a] crime and then they will be detained, like [Ahmed Khan],” he told CBC Toronto.

“Depending on the kind of belief he holds and the kind of research he was undertaking, it might have rubbed a number of important people in Pakistan the wrong way.”

‘One of the finest human beings’

Electronic crime prevention acts are a common strategy among military dictatorships, Shafiqul Huque said.

“They try to jump at every potential case where there might be people speaking out about what is going on in the system,” he said. “There is a gap between the rules and reality, and many people fall between those gaps.”

Awes said his father and sister went to visit Ahmed Khan Tuesday and the only thing he asked for were books.

“He’s one of the finest human beings that you know. And I got the pleasure of calling him my brother,” he said.

Ahmed Khan is set to attend a bail hearing in Lahore Wednesday at 11 a.m. local time.