Blasphemous content online: FIA gets custody of three suspects

ATC tells agency to submit progress report at next hearing after seven-day remand ends

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday granted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) physical custody of three people suspected for their alleged involvement in publishing blasphemous content online for seven days.

ATC-I Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi handed over custody of the suspects to FIA with directions to submit a progress report of the investigation at the next hearing of the case.

FIA officials told the court that the suspects had been arrested on suspicion of sharing and spreading blasphemous content via social media.

Further, they said that they had also seized mobile phones, laptops and computers from the possession of the suspects. These devices, the officials told the court, had been sent for forensic examination.

Earlier, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court had remarked that the court would decide if social media websites were being used as a platform for spreading blasphemous content in Pakistan should be banned or not during the next hearing on March 27.

Justice Siddiqui had further observed that availability of blasphemous material on social media had a direct bearing on the integrity, security and defence of Pakistan and all the institutions need to rise to the occasion in order to protect ideological and geographical boundaries of the country.

On March 22, the IHC was informed that an FIR No. 07/2017 was registered with FIA under sections 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298, 298-A, 298-B, 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Sec 11 of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 and sections 6-f, 7-h, eight and nine of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Moreover, the IHC has ordered the concerned authorities to include sections related to blasphemy and pornography in the Cyber Crimes Act and to enquire about the non-governmental organisations operating in Pakistan with an agenda to spread blasphemous content and promote pornography.

In the previous hearing, the advocate general had informed the IHC that the Attorney General for Pakistan would apprise the court with regard to steps to be taken for insertion of blasphemy and pornography in the PECA and about the insertion of proviso or section against levelling false allegation of blasphemy.

The FIA director general had on a previous hearing told the court that the agency was investigating around 75 people for blasphemy and that the agency was also in consultation with a lawyer to take up the matter with the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2017.