Court orders Pakistan probe agency to stop harassing Imran Khan-led party's social media activists

Pakistan High Court on Thursday ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to ensure that the social media activists are not harassed by any officers, local media reported.

This comes after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) moved the court alleging that its social media activists, including Arsalan Khan, the former Prime Minister Imran Khan's focal person on digital media, were arrested or had gone missing, according to The News International.

In a two-page order, the Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah said that the PTI had contended that its political workers and activists are being harassed by the FIA.

"The court has been informed that [Arsalan Khalid's] residence was raided and he was kept in illegal detention," the CJ Minallah said.

"The Director-General, Federal Investigation is directed to ensure that its officers do not violate the SOPs that had been submitted before the Court and that workers and activists of the petitioner party are not illegally harassed," the order read.

The FIA has so far arrested over a dozen suspects for alleged involvement in launching a social media campaign against the Pakistan Army and maligning security institutions, following recent political developments in the country.

From 2,100 Twitter accounts, a total of 200,000 tweets were posted against the Pakistani army and the agency has identified around 2,000 Twitter accounts involved in hate speech, according to The News International.

Meanwhile, the FIA Cybercrimes director said that at least 50,000 web pages had been identified in connection with the propaganda campaign against the Pakistani Army and judiciary.

( With inputs from ANI )

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