PPP condemns FIA notices to lawmakers, ministers

Legislators accused of delivering ‘contemptuous’ speeches against CJP

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Sunday strongly condemned the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) move to issue notices to the party MNAs, MPAs, ministers, workers and office bearers in connection with a case of delivering “contemptuous” speeches against the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP).

According to PPP’s official statement, the FIA had sent notices to eight PPP MNAs and MPAs, including two provincial ministers among them.

The lawmakers included Dr Nafisa Shah, Qadir Patel, Shahida Rehmani, Naz Baloch, Shehla Raza, Qadir Mandokhel, Nasir Shah and Saeed Ghani among others.

The notice sent under section 160 (police-officer's power to require attendance of witnesses) of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) requires the accused to personally appear before the FIA.

The FIA had reportedly registered an FIR against PPP activist Masoodur Rehman Abbasi on a complaint lodged by Mohammed Sohail Sajid under Sections 10, 11, 20 of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016 and Sections 500, 505 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

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The Supreme Court also initiated a contempt petition against Abbasi on charges of using “derogatory and contemptuous” language against the CJP.

“It is apparent that this is witch-hunting and using state machinery against PPP spokespersons and office-bearers,” the statement read, adding that to receive a message from any source on WhatsApp did not constitute an offence either under PECA Act 2016 or under PPC, and did not establish an acquaintance with the accused.

As political persons, thousands of messages, complaints, even spam are received, it continued, adding “if an act of simply receiving a message is criminalised, whole country would be in prison.”

Although FIA knows that this text could have been sent to a number of people, it questioned, how they could be presumed to have committed offence.

“The PPP cannot be cowed down in the garb of such notices,” the statement read. It added that the Supreme Court had not said in its order that everyone who had received the message should be issued notice.

“It seems FIA is misusing its authority and misinterpreting the orders of Hon Supreme Court,” the PPP statement read, adding “we fear that like NAB, FIA is being used for political engineering by the PTI government as the former FIA chief has already testified publically.”

“We also call upon the superior judiciary to take notice of harassment of parliamentarians and political workers by FIA by using superior judiciary as an excuse,” the party statement concluded.