Media personality arrested after armed resistance

The Wednesday morning arrest of a media personality, Mohsin Jamil Baig, set off a storm on media platforms and drew sharp criticism from the opposition on a day an anti-terrorism court granted his physical remand and another court appointed a bailiff for his production.

The Cyber Crime Wing Lahore of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Islamabad police raided Baig’s house on Wednesday morning. There was resistance to the arrest in which two officers were taken hostage and one was injured after being hit with pistol butt as the FIA team came under fire.

The FIA had registered a case against Baig at the request of Communications Minister Murad Saeed, days after a private TV channel programme in which Baig was a panelist. The discussion was held on Murad’s ministry receiving top performance award by Prime Minister Imran Khan recently.

Read: Student unions should be restored in every province like Sindh: Bilawal

In the programme, the panel had made unethical and disparaging remarks about the minister. The programme received heavy criticism from the government quarters. The channel was also served a show-cause notice by the media regulator.

The FIA said that a case was registered against Baig under Sections 20 (offences against the dignity of a natural person), 21-D (offences against modesty of a person and minor) and 24 (cyber stalking) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 read with Sections 500 (defaming army officers) and 555 (statement conducing to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

According to sources, the Cyber Crime Wing raided the house of Baig in Islamabad. Seeing the people in plainclothes, the people present there resisted and sound of gunshot was also heard. A heavy contingent of police reached the spot, took Baig into custody and shifted him to the Margalla police station.

Baig’s spokesperson said that the FIA had no arrest warrant for his arrest and that no case was registered against him. According to the spokesperson, Baig was beaten during the operation while his family members were harassed.

Initially, there was no statement from the FIA. However, the agency said in the afternoon that its Cyber Crime Wing Lahore had filed a case against Baig at the request of Federal Minister Murad Saeed and raided Baig’s house in F-8 after obtaining warrant from a court.

During the raid, the FIA officials said, Baig, his sons and servants opened straight fire on the FIA team and held two officers hostage and tortured them. Baig committed a crime by firing on government employees along with his sons and servants, they said.

The officials added that Baig was taken to Margalla police station where the Islamabad police were taking further action. On the other hand, the Margalla police lodged a separate case against Baig on the complaint of station house officer Mian Khurram Shehzad.

The case was registered under section 7 of Anti-Terrorist Act (ATA) section 324 of the PPC (attempted murder) and other provisions. The FIR said that Baig hit FIA Sub-inspector Wasim with a pistol butt and injured him. Baig, his sons and servants opened fire to avoid a legitimate arrest and spread panic, it said.

The news of Baig’s arrest spread like wildfire. His lawyer filed a petition in an Islamabad court against his “illegal detention”. The court appointed a bailiff and ordered for the production of Mohsin Baig in the court.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad police produced Baig in an anti-terrorism court and sought a five-day remand. However, the court granted remand for the three days and handed over the accused to the police.

Political leaders from the opposition parties condemned the arrest while special assistant to prime minister on political communication defended the action, while questioning the journalistic credentials of Baig.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif said that the arrest showed how “panicked the regime is”. He criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan for his inability to tolerate even “minor criticism” and stressed that free speech had been heavily restricted in his tenure.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that Baig’s arrest showed the prime minister’s “weakness” and demanded his immediate release. “Imran Khan is so weak that he is afraid of criticism on himself lest people become aware of the truth about him,” he said.

Read More: Another 'journalist' gunned down in Sindh

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz tweeted that Prime Minister Imran could use “as much state power as” he could but he would not be able to save himself. She said that the prime minister’s “list of crimes includes not only taking revenge on your opponents, but also using national and state agencies like the FIA for personal revenge.”

However, SAPM Shahbaz Gill shared a video of the stand-off outside Baig’s residence on Twitter. Later, in a press conference, Gill questioned the credentials of Baig as a journalist. Gill said that Baig ran an advertising agency and later set up a news agency. “I must clarify that he is not a journalist.”

He said that Federal Minister Murad Saeed had merely exercised his legal right and was going through the right channel to file a complaint against Baig over his “extremely filthy remarks”. On the other hand, he added, “he (Baig) resorted to [violence] and fired at police and other law enforcers,” Gill added.