Journalist Asad Toor was placed on physical detention for five days by a district and session court in Islamabad in connection with a case involving the anti-judiciary campaign on social media.
In front of Magistrate Mohammad Shabbir, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) presented Toor and requested his remand. The journalist was also granted an hour-long meeting with his attorney by the court.
Since I work as a journalist, I am unable to give my phone. “I went before the FIA two times, and my attorney stated that he got the notice on February 24,” Toor stated in the court.
He continued by saying that they filed a case in the high court challenging the call-up notice, and on February 26 they went to the FIA office armed with the order from the high court to find out about the FIR and the accusations made against him.
Toor’s mother, meanwhile, filed a petition at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and informed the media that she did not know what offense her son had been charged with.
In response to a query from a journalist, she stated, “Asad informed me that he is departing and that a notice has arrived.” Another warning was received the following day. We were unaware that Asad had been taken into custody. I’m still not sure what the crime was that led to my son’s arrest.
The journalist allegedly launched a hostile campaign against the court on social networking sites X and YouTube, according to the FIR filed against Toor. It further stated that he has been charged under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016 for instigating anti-state acts on social media.
It should be mentioned that the FIA summoned Toor after a JIT was established to look into the campaign against the government officials.
The FIA Cyber Wing recently summoned Toor and anchor Imran Riaz Khan on February 24 in relation to the same allegations.
It had been requested that the two YouTubers bring the necessary records. The notices stated that if they did not show up, it would be considered that they had nothing to defend themselves against.
However, anchor Imran, who has recently continued to criticize judges, was detained last week in connection with a corruption case by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE).
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