When Pakistan's military spokesman held a press conference earlier this month on emerging threats, Matiullah Jan, a journalist who has written critically of the judiciary and the military, was surprised to see his own picture flash on the screen.
The spokesman, Gen. Asif Ghafoor, said Jan and a handful of other journalists and bloggers were anti-state and anti-military. Those are serious allegations in Pakistan, where the military has ruled, directly or indirectly, for most of the country's history, and where rights groups say it is waging an unprecedented campaign of intimidation ahead of next month's elections.
"He wasn't specific," Jan said of the press conference. "But he tried to paint everyone on the so-called slide prepared by intelligence reports with a broad brush as being anti-state and anti-army."
Goraya, who has more than 19,000 Twitter followers, said his parents were told to keep him quiet "at least until the elections."
"The intention (of the break-in) was not material," Sirmed said. "The intention was to see what was on our laptops."
Hameed Haroon, the chief executive of the media group that owns the paper, said it was singled out by authorities "because it has taken a posture that is pro-democracy."
"The current attempt to stifle the media is much more elaborate than the attempts made in the past," said Scott Griffin, a spokesman for the group. He said the attacks and intimidation "are not random incidents but appear as part of a larger plan to muzzle independent journalists."
Steven Butler, the Asia Program Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said there has been a "stepped up and multi-pronged attack on the media aimed at shaping coverage."
"One of the goals seems too be to undermine the electoral prospects of the current ruling party," he said. "The links to the military seem more obvious or transparent than in the past."
"We are the strong supporters of democracy," Ghafoor said. "But the army is the most organized and capable institution with the ability to assist."