Karachi court reserves verdict on journalist Iqrarul Hassan's bail plea in PECA case

Ruling to be announced Thursday as defence argues journalist did not promote terrorism, invoked sections don't apply

KARACHI:

Karachi's District and Sessions Court (East) on Wednesday reserved its verdict on journalist Iqrarul Hassan's bail application in a case for harming the state and national integrity by disseminating anti-state content on his social media platforms. The verdict is to be announced on Thursday, October 29.

The court reserved the verdict after hearing Hassan's bail application, which the judicial magistrate had earlier rejected.

The case against Hassan, filed under Sections 9, 10, 20, 24, and 26-A of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, stated that the journalist, "through his personal social media accounts on the platforms X, Instagram and Facebook, is intentionally disseminating false, fabricated, anti-state and defamatory content with the object of instigating the general public against the state, its institutions and its functionaries."

Hassan had changed his lawyer, with the defence counsel arguing in Wednesday's hearing that the journalist had not promoted any terrorism and did not glorify any proscribed organisation. The counsel also maintained that the sections invoked in the case did not qualify, with Hassan only having spoken about the imposition of governor's rule in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

On October 13, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) produced Hassan before the judicial magistrate (East) at Karachi's city court and he was handed over to the NCCIA on a four-day physical remand. Later, on October 16, the District and Sessions Court East dismissed a petition challenging Hassan's physical remand, with the defence counsel questioning the legality of the proceedings and arguing that the case concerned digital and cyber matters.

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A day later, on October 17, the journalist's physical remand was extended by two days while his lawyers' application was rejected and the NCCIA was ordered to present a report at the next hearing.

As per the FIR, the content of Hassan's social media posts portrayed the state, its institutions and its functionaries "in a false and distorted manner." It also noted that Hassan "represented lawful measures as controversial with the intent to instigate and incite the general public at large against the state and the lawfully constituted authorities."

The FIR also stated, "The accused instigated a substantial following, including the general public, on the aforesaid platforms," adding that the content that he posted was published and broadcast "in an open, publicly accessible manner, without restriction, so as to reach and influence the public at large throughout Pakistan and abroad."

On October 12, Hassan's wife Farah Iqrar told The Express Tribune that a group of unidentified individuals posing as officials of the NCCIA had allegedly taken him away from their residence in Lahore’s Defence C area. According to Farah, between five and seven people, including women, arrived at the house late night, during the intervening hours of Sunday and Monday, and demanded that Hassan come outside.

She alleged that the individuals threatened to break down the door if he was not handed over. They subsequently entered the house, forcibly took the journalist from a room and took him away.