The story of Major (Retd) Adil Raja—a former officer turned whistleblower and investigative journalist—exposes not merely the dangers of dissent in Pakistan, but also crystallizes a broader, chilling reality: the global spread of authoritarian tactics aimed at crushing fundamental liberties beyond national borders.

After the Downfall of Democratic Order

Since the ousting of Prime Minister Imran Khan in April 2022, Pakistan has endured a deepening crisis of democracy. While successive governments and their military backers have historically jostled for dominance, the ascendancy of Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir has marked an escalation in repression. Reports from human rights organizations—including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan—have meticulously documented an upsurge in arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and the criminalization of dissent, particularly against journalists, activists, and political opposition (see: HRCP 2023 Report).

The use of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA)—initially crafted to regulate online hate speech and cyber crime—as a tool to silence critics, especially online, represents the very antithesis of a free, open society. The draconian misuse of PECA has generated broad condemnation from press freedom watchdogs like Reporters Without Borders, which ranked Pakistan 150 out of 180 in its 2024 Press Freedom Index.

Transnational Repression: Exporting Authoritarianism

Adil Raja’s ordeal in the UK, reportedly targeted by Pakistan’s intelligence networks for his outspoken critiques, is emblematic of what academics call “transnational repression.” Freedom House, in its Defending Democracy in Exile report, identifies Pakistan as among a growing list of regimes willing to surveil, intimidate, or even plot violence against exiled dissidents. Raja is not alone: Baloch, Pashtun, and pro-democracy activists, women journalists, and others have faced harassment, threats, and abduction attempts, both at home and on foreign soil (Freedom House Report 2023).

That British courts—bastions of independent, common-law tradition—must now adjudicate whether the United Kingdom will yield to the demands of the ISI or uphold the sanctuary it provides to those fleeing oppression, will set a precedent with global consequences. The stakes are not only about one man’s freedom. They are about whether the world will defend its longstanding commitment to asylum, free speech, and fundamental rights in the face of authoritarian overreach.

The High Price of Truth-Telling

It is worth remembering that whistleblowers and investigative journalists are not just inconvenient antagonists to corrupt power—they are bulwarks of healthy democracies. From Daniel Ellsberg to Jamal Khashoggi, history is replete with those who paid an unconscionable price to shine a light on institutionalized abuse and impunity. In Pakistan, military-dominated “hybrid regimes,” as detailed by scholars like Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa in Military Inc, have siphoned unspeakable sums from national coffers while cultivating a “saviour” narrative to mask impunity and excess (see Siddiqa, A., Military Inc: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy, 2017).

Adil Raja’s reporting and testimony reveal not just the depravity of individual generals, but the systemic perversion of an institution that, accountable to none, wields unchecked power—a reality Pakistan’s battered civil society knows all too well.

The Responsibility of Democracies

Britain, and indeed the global democratic community, must refuse to become complicit in the silencing of voices like Raja. The imperative is clear: uphold due process, refuse spurious extradition requests rooted in political vendetta, and redouble protections for those targeted by transnational repression—be they journalists, activists, or political dissidents.

To concede this ground is to endorse a world in which authoritarian states dictate the boundaries of free expression everywhere—eroding not just foreign liberties, but our own.

In Conclusion

The principle is as urgent today as ever: the right to speak truth to power, however inconvenient, must be protected without compromise. Martin Niemöller’s warning—about the perils of failing to defend those targeted “first”—remains hauntingly prescient. Where the weak and the marginalized are silenced, none are safe.

British courts, and the societies they serve, must side unequivocally with democratic freedom—lest the darkness of repression, at home and abroad, become the only new world order.