An Islamabad district and sessions court on Tuesday sent PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan and nine others on 14 days’ judicial remand in a case on the party’s alleged “anti-state digital campaigns”.
Hasan was arrested last week during a raid conducted by the Islamabad police and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on the party’s Central Office in a case under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (Peca).
His arrest came the same day as the interior ministry claimed the PTI was involved in “anti-state propaganda”, without giving any more details. The government had formed a joint investigation committee (JIT) last week to probe those creating “chaos and disorder” in the country through “malicious social media campaigns”.
During Sunday’s proceedings, the investigation officer (IO) had informed the court about Hasan’s travel abroad on a visa allegedly sponsored by an Indian named Rahul. Hasan had said he ran a regional think tank, and Rahul, residing in the United Kingdom, had invited him to be a guest speaker for an event in Bahrain.
Today, ten suspects were presented before Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Shabbir, comprising nine people arrested on July 22 and Liaqat Ali, who was arrested on July 24.
PTI lawyers Ali Bukhari and Ali Zafar appeared as the suspects’ counsels while Sheikh Aamir was present as the FIA prosecutor.
The FIA prosecutor informed the court that a “technical report has been received” and that all “suspects were in contact with each other”.
Meanwhile, Zafar argued that Hasan and others had already been remanded into FIA’s custody for seven days. “Raoof Hasan is not well,” he told the court, requesting that his medical check-up be conducted.
The prosecutor sought the suspects’ physical remand for another five days. However, the judge denied the request, sending Hasan and nine others to jail on a 14-day judicial remand.
The judge also ordered that Hasan’s medical examination be conducted at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) before sending him to jail as the PTI leader had complained of “severe heart pain”.
In its written order, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, Judge Shabbir noted that the suspects had not “complained of any maltreatment at the hands of the IO”.
The judge observed that the IO had “not requested the physical remand of the accused on the ground of recovery in the purview of Section 167” (a procedure when investigation cannot be completed in 24 hours) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
“No convincing ground could be advanced for grant of further physical remand,” the judge asserted, directing the suspects to be presented in court on August 13.
He further ordered the IO to submit a report under Section 173 (report of police officer) of the CrPC within the stipulated period.
Noting that Hasan “complained that he is feeling not well and suffering from severe heart pain”, the judge also directed the IO to have the PTI leader “medically examined from Pims Hospital before sending him to judicial lock-up”.
A request submitted by the FIA in the court, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, cited two versions of a “technical analysis report” — one prepared on July 27 and the other on July 29.
It said the two reports revealed that the suspects, “in active connivance with each other, were involved in orchestrating and initiating an organised and orchestrated campaign on social media against the state institutions”.
The FIA said the suspects ran the campaigns “by creating, uploading and disseminating anti-state content on various social media platforms with willful intent to coerce and intimidate or overawe the government and/or the public”.
The FIA said it needed to interrogate the suspects and further raids were to be conducted on their statements to arrest their accomplices and collect “other electronic/digital devices used in commission of subject offences”.
