ATC dismisses bail plea of blasphemy suspect

Applicant denies spreading objectionable content on social media

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terror court (ATC) on Wednesday dismissed the bail plea of a suspect who is facing charges of committing blasphemy through social media.

ATC Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi dismissed the application after reviewing the case record and hearing arguments from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the suspect’s lawyer.

The petitioner, who is said to be a college professor, wrote in the bail application that he had no connection with spreading any blasphemous content through the social media. In the petition, he claimed that he was innocent and urged the court to grant his bail.



The petitioner’s counsel argued that his client “cannot even think of committing blasphemy”.

The FIA has so far arrested four suspects in the case and on a previous hearing, the ATC had sent the suspects to jail on judicial remand in connection with their alleged involvement in publishing blasphemous content on the social media.

The FIA had on March 19 registered an FIR under Sections 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298, 298-A, 298-B and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 11 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 and sections 6(f), 7(h), 8 & 9 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.

Earlier, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC, while hearing a petition related to blasphemy, had observed that availability of blasphemous material on social media had a direct bearing on the integrity, security and defence of Pakistan.

Justice Siddiqui had added that all the institutions needed to rise to the occasion in order to protect the ideological and geographical boundaries of the country.



Also, the IHC had ordered the concerned authorities to include sections related to blasphemy and pornography in the cyber crimes act and to enquire whether NGOs operating in Pakistan are spreading such content.

Justice Siddiqui had also ordered that the top leadership of the country to become proactive on raising a national “firewall” which would enable authorities to monitor Pakistan’s internet traffic and all the users.

Moreover, the IHC had ordered to register cases against alleged blasphemers, constitute a JIT.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2017.