Imran Riaz Khan was ordered to be released immediately after a Lahore court dropped the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) case against him on Friday. He was detained on Thursday in Lahore on suspicion of “hate speech” and making a “violence-inducing statement” intended to “sow discord between the populace and the governmental institutions.”
The anchorperson was detained at the Allama Iqbal Airport while attempting to go to the United Arab Emirates. He was handed over to the FIA cybercrime wing after being informed by the FIA that his name was on the blacklist. It wasn’t until Friday that the cybercrime wing brought him in front of a judge for physical remand.
The FIA registered the first information report in accordance with sections 11 (electronic forgery), 20 (malicious code), and 24 (legal recognition of offences committed in relation to information systems) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Peca) 2016 regulation. Sections 131/109 (incitation to mutiny), 500 (punishment for defamation), and 505 (public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code have also been included to the FIR.
FIR states that Khan was “caught engaged in publicly making a hate comment at a conference which falls under the territorial jurisdiction of FIA cyber crime cell.” On a national and international level, the argument went on to claim that the speech was widely circulated on social media platforms.
The contents of Khan’s address, as noted in the FIR, called into question Gen. Bajwa’s parting promise that the military would maintain its apolitical stance. Today, under heavy guard, the anchor was brought before Judicial Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Virk. Attorney Mian Ali Ashfaq was his representative.
FIA had not provided any justification for requesting the physical remand of Khan’s client, Khan’s attorney argued before the court at the beginning of the session.
