In a recent development, an Islamabad district and session court has granted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) a five-day remand of journalist Asad Ali Toor, pertaining to his alleged involvement in an online campaign against the judiciary.
This action follows the formation of a five-member joint investigation team (JIT) by the caretaker government back in January, tasked with unraveling the facts surrounding a malicious social media campaign targeting the judiciary. The genesis of this investigation stemmed from the aftermath of a Supreme Court decision which stripped the PTI of its emblematic ‘bat’ symbol.
Despite assurances from the attorney general for Pakistan to the apex court last month that the FIA would refrain from taking action against journalists until after the general election, Toor found himself interrogated by FIA officials for nearly eight hours last week. However, this interrogation occurred in defiance of the assurances made to the court.
Condemnations from multiple sides
Subsequently, Toor’s legal team confirmed his arrest by the agency, which took place after he voluntarily appeared at the FIA’s Cyber Crime Reporting Centre to address a summons notice regarding the alleged campaign against the judiciary. Despite possessing an order from the Islamabad High Court instructing the agency not to harass Toor, he was taken into custody without his legal representatives present.
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Toor was presented before Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Shabbir, where the FIA requested his physical remand. The court acceded to this request, remanding Toor into FIA custody for five days. The arrest has drawn widespread condemnation, with human rights organizations such as the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) expressing serious concern over the matter.
Similarly, human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab-Mazari-Hazir and former PPP leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar decried the arrest as an infringement on freedom of expression. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged authorities to release Toor immediately and cease any further harassment against him for his journalistic endeavors.