Case filed under PECA, alleges anti-state content on social media with intent to instigate, incite public
Journalist Iqrarul Hassan. Photo: Meta
KARACHI:
The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on Tuesday produced journalist Iqrarul Hassan before the judicial magistrate (East) at Karachi’s city court in a case of harming the state and national integrity through the dissemination of anti-state content on his social media platforms, handing him over to the NCCIA on a four-day physical remand.
According to the First Information Report, the case was filed at the NCCIA by Inspector Muhammad Ali Khan under Sections 9, 10, 20, 24, and 26-A of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016.
The FIR stated that Hassan, “through his personal social media accounts on the platforms X, Instagram and Facebook, is intentionally disseminating false, fabricated, anti-state and defamatory content with the object of instigating the general public against the state, its institutions and its functionaries.”
During the hearing, the court asked Hassan whether he had been subjected to torture, to which he replied that he had not been beaten. Asked whether he had a lawyer, he said he had not hired one yet.
The NCCIA sought a 14-day physical remand of Hassan, saying he had to be interrogated in connection with the case. The court granted four days instead.
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According to the FIR, Assistant Director Rana Muhammad Faisal Munir will investigate the case without delay. It added that the content of Hassan’s social media posts portrayed the state, its institutions and its functionaries “in a false and distorted manner.”
It also noted that Hassan “represented lawful measures as controversial with the intent to instigate and incite the general public at large against the state and the lawfully constituted authorities.”
The FIR stated further, “The accused instigated a substantial following, including the general public, on the aforesaid platforms,” adding that the content that he posted was published and broadcast “in an open, publicly accessible manner, without restriction, so as to reach and influence the public at large throughout Pakistan and abroad.”
A day earlier, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said that Punjab Police had not arrested Hassan, adding that investigations into the matter were underway and his family would be informed as soon as verified information about his whereabouts became available.
Azma’s statement came after Hassan’s wife Farah Iqrar told The Express Tribune that a group of unidentified individuals posing as officials of the NCCIA had allegedly taken him away from their residence in Lahore’s Defence C area.
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According to Farah, between five and seven people, including women, arrived at the house late on Sunday night, during the intervening hours of Sunday and Monday, and demanded that Hassan come outside. She alleged that the individuals threatened to break down the door if he was not handed over. They subsequently entered the house, forcibly took the journalist from a room and took him away.
Farah said she contacted the relevant agency’s office to inquire about her husband’s whereabouts but received no response. She added that an application regarding Hassan’s alleged abduction was submitted to the Defence C police station at around 6am, after which the police issued a diary number.
She further said she later contacted the relevant authorities to register a computerised first information report online but was told that the network was down.
Hours before the reported incident, Hassan had posted a message on X criticising the Pakistan Peoples Party and referring to Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari.
