Govt to challenge release of child porn convict

LHC has fixed the hearing of the case for May 19

The attorney general of Pakistan's (AGP) office has said the federal government is in the process of challenging the release order of Saadat Amin – convicted of child pornography and member of an international racket.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has again fixed the hearing of the case for May 19. The high court passed the release order reportedly on May 14, giving relief to Amin who was earlier convicted and sentenced to seven years in April 2018.

The AGP's office added that while the order of the convict's release was reported in the media, so far no formal order by the LHC has been issued.

"In view of the above, there is no order in the field for release of Saadat Amin and on May 19, the federal government would vehemently oppose the release of Sadaat Amin who was convicted for committing the most heinous offence."

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had arrested Amin from Jhang. The arrest was made by the FIA’s Cyber Crime Cell in Lahore.

During the investigation, the agency discovered more than 650,000 items of illegal content in the form of pictures and digital data in his possession.

In 2016, Pakistan criminalised child pornography in a historic first, making the offence punishable with seven years in prison and a fine of Rs0.7 million. The new amendment, titled Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2015, also criminalised child trafficking within the country.

The initiative came after the country was rocked by a major paedophilia scandal in August 2015, when it was revealed that hundreds of pornographic videos of children from Hussain Khanwala village in the Punjab province had been made and were being circulated.