On 2 April 2017, the Karachi City Courts sent Karachi University professor and human rights defender, Dr. Riaz Ahmed, to the Karachi Central Prison on judicial remand for 14 days. The human rights defender was arrested on 1 April 2017 for the alleged possession of an unlicensed weapon. The incident occurred while he was on his way to a press conference to call for the release of an ailing colleague in police custody. On 1 April 2017, Dr. Riaz Ahmed was arrested by the Pakistan Rangers before he was due to address a press conference at the Karachi Press Club. The purpose of the press conference was to protest against the illegal detention of Dr. Hasan Zafar Arif, an elderly retired professor who is in police custody and has been denied access to a lawyer and medical attention. A case was registered against Dr. Riaz Ahmed at the Artillery Maidan police station based on a complaint from a Rangers officer who claimed that he had found an unlicensed loaded Stoeger Cougar 8000F pistol in Dr. Riaz Ahmed's car. He was charged with "possessing an illegal weapon" under Section 23 (i) A of the Sindh Arms Act 2013 and was sent to the Karachi Central Prison on 2 April 2017. On 3 April 2017, a group of human rights defenders filed a bail application for Dr. Riaz Ahmed which will be heard by the Court on 5 April 2017. This act of judicial harassment takes place within the context of a general crackdown on civil society in Pakistan. Human rights defenders in Pakistan face many threats including killing, arbitrary arrest, detention, abduction, kidnapping, threats and judicial harassment. They have endured considerable judicial persecution in the past year, often facing fabricated charges in reprisal for their work or statements.