Journalist Farhan Mallick was granted bail in the PECA case on Monday. The district and session court granted bail to the journalist who has been under FIA custody.
District Judge (East) Karachi, Dr Chaudhry Wasim Iqbal, approved the bail application of the journalist after hearing the arguments of the legal counsel of Mallick. The legal counsel of the journalist argued that no concrete evidence was presented against the journalist despite the passage of time.
“The case is baseless, and even screenshots cannot be treated as sufficient grounds for prosecution,” said defence lawyer Moez Jafri. The court ordered the journalist to submit the surety of Rs 100,000. On April 3, the court issued a second notice to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) after earlier hearings.
Farhan Mallick was taken into custody by the FIA last month. He was arrested last month on March 20th. The journalist was arrested apparently over the content of videos.
Farhan Mallick runs a digital media outlet under the name of Raftar which describes itself as a “dynamic platform dedicated to driving social change through the power of storytelling.” He is also the former news director of Samaa TV.
FIA Cybercrime Reporting Centre Additional Director Shahzad Haider told the local news outlet that the inquiry against Farhan Mallick was initiated three months ago. Mallick had run several programs against the security establishment, said the officials regarding his arrest.
FIR has been lodged against him under the Peca Act read with Pakistan’s Penal Code’s section 190 (punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment) and 500 (punishment for defamation).
Read more: FIA arrests journalist Farhan Mallick allegedly over video content
His team at Raftar shared the lastest development on X on Monday morning. “Grateful to share that bail has been granted in the first FIR against FM. It’s a small victory in a long journey. We are now headed to Malir Court with legal team @Jaferii for the second hearing— keep making dua; hope and resilience keep us going,” read the tweet on X.