Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari on Friday dismissed claims of cases being registered against 49 journalists and rights activists in the country by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) under the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016.
This was disturbing news so I checked & my info is it's incorrect. A private citizen has sent complaint to FIA against around 12 journalists. FIA examines all complaints but NO FIR has been registered & FIA can't register FIR under PECA without following specified legal procedure pic.twitter.com/oS7lJUo6Lm
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) September 25, 2020
The minister, responding to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Twitter, stated that "This was disturbing news so I checked and my info is it's incorrect". She added that a private citizen has sent a complaint to the FIA against 12 journalists.
She further elaborated that the FIA examines all complaints but no first information report (FIR) has been registered and the federal agency cannot register an FIR under PECA without following specified legal procedures.
This was disturbing news so I checked & my info is it's incorrect. A private citizen has sent complaint to FIA against around 12 journalists. FIA examines all complaints but NO FIR has been registered & FIA can't register FIR under PECA without following specified legal procedure pic.twitter.com/oS7lJUo6Lm
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) September 25, 2020
In a second tweet, Mazari urged anyone with contrary information to inform her so that she can follow up.
Amnesty International had also issued a brief statement on the issue through its official Twitter account on Thursday and had called on authorities to withdraw the charges immediately. It said "intimidating journalists" through PECA is the "latest and most brazen attack on freedom of expression in the country".
Pakistan: Intimidating journalists through the draconian Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act is the latest and most brazen attack on freedom of expression in the country. We call upon authorities to withdraw these charges immediately. #JournalismIsntACrime
— Amnesty International South Asia (@amnestysasia) September 24, 2020
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry, commenting on the issue, said individuals who "raised a hue and cry" on the issue without prior confirmation should apologise to the government and the nation.
Those who raised hue n cry without confirmation must now apologise to the Government and the Nation https://t.co/vK1N1fd2tx
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) September 25, 2020
Earlier, an Islamabad-based journalist, Asad Ali Toor was booked on charges of spreading 'negative propaganda' against the state and its institutions through his social media posts.
The complaint, registered by a resident of Rawalpindi named Ehtisham Ahmed, stated that, "[Toor] spread negative propaganda and used derogatory language against the government institutions, including the Pakistan Army, which was a grave crime according to the law."
Toor was booked under sections 505 (statements conducing to public mischief), 500 (punishment for defamation) and 499 (defamation) and of the Pakistan Penal Code and sections 37 (unlawful online content), 11 (hate speech) and 20 (offences against dignity of a person) of the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act 2016.
Express Tribune's Bilal Farooqi was also detained in relation to an FIR registered against him. According to the FIR, Farooqi had been booked under section 505 of the Pakistan Penal Code and section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code for ‘spreading and inciting hatred’.
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