Court seeks final arguments against Cynthia till 24th

Police say it is a cybercrime case and not a criminal one

ISLAMABAD: The additional district and sessions court on Saturday ordered to furnish final arguments on a petition filed for registration of a criminal case against US blogger Cynthia D Ritchie and adjourned the hearing till June 24.

During the hearing, the Bani Gala police submitted its report in the matter and mentioned that a criminal case might not be registered against the US blogger as such case was of cybercrime and fell under the jurisdiction of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

A citizen, Waqas Abbasi, had submitted the plea for registration of a case against Cynthia for making inappropriate and defamatory allegations about former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in her tweets.

The police in its report submitted that if any action is required against Cynthia, the FIA should be consulted.



The court sought final arguments from both sides in the next hearing.

Earlier, Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Jehangir Awan announced the two-page reserved verdict on Pakistan Peoples Party Islamabad President Shakeel Abbasi’s petition, seeking registration of a criminal case against Cynthia for passing “extremely derogatory and slanderous remarks about Benzair Bhutto”.

The judge wrote in the verdict that Benazir “died in the year 2007 and there is lapse of more than 12 years in between this intervening period but the accused never agitated this fact before any forum or Competent Authority and even not disclosed on any media. So, at this stage after lapse of 12 years her disclosure to malign the character of deceased leader is apparently based upon mala-fide”.



The verdict stated, “There is no denial from the accused [Cynthia] that she created this tweet on social media. Hence, a crime has been committed falling under Peca Act 2016 and FIA is competent to investigate the matter in accordance with the law.”

It read, “Under the circumstances, the application is hereby accepted and FIA is directed to proceed in accordance with law, conduct an inquiry and if there is sufficient material, register an FIR.”

Earlier, the Islamabad police had refused to register a case. The FIA had also prayed the court to dismiss the petition, seeking registration of a case against Cynthia.

Cynthia had accused former interior minister Rehman Malik of raping her and former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and former PPP minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin of physically manhandling her.

With input from APP