Bail granted in college protest instigation case

FIA registers case against those inciting public through tweets portraying fake incident as rape case in a college

LAHORE:

A district court granted pre-arrest bails to journalists Shakir Mehmood Awan and Syed Zeeshan Aziz in two cases registered by the FIA and Defence-A police over their alleged involvement in inciting the public through their tweets portraying a fake incident as a rape case in a college.

The applicants appeared before Additional District and Sessions Judge Suleman Ghuman along with their counsel Advocate Azhar Siddique.

The petitioners' counsel questioned the involvement of the FIA and police on two FIRs regarding the same occurrence. He also raised question how journalists could be implicated in such cases while performing their duties.

The lawyer wanted to present more arguments but the judge issued notices to the authorities concerned and sought their replies by November 4.

The college principal had filed the complaint to the FIA against around 40 social media users who were covering the issue through online forums. The complainant had requested the FIA to probe into the incidents occurring since October 12 after a social media campaign against the college.

On the other hand, a police officer, Muhammad Sajjad, had also lodged an FIR against unidentified persons regarding the matter.