Pakistan: Court sents Journalist Khalid Jamil to jail on 14-day judicial remand

Islamabad [Pakistan], September 24 : A local court in Islamabad sent journalist Muhammad Khalid Jamil on a 14-day judicial remand in a case pertaining to spreading “provocative narrative against the state institutions through social media platforms”, ARY News reported on Sunday.

ARY News reported, Khalid was produced in the Islamabad district and sessions court after completion of a two-day physical remand.

During the hearing, the FIA sought more physical remand of Jamil which was rejected by Islamabad court.

According to ARY News, Khalid Jamil, the bureau chief of a private news channel, was taken into custody from his residence at Media town, Islamabad.

An Islamabad district and sessions court on Friday remanded journalist Muhammad Khalid Jamil in the custody of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for two days, Pakistan-based Dawn reported.

The development comes after Jamil's arrest on Thursday night. According to FIA, Khalid Jamil was detained on charges of spreading a “provocative narrative” against state institutions through his posts on social media.ABN News, the TV Channel with which Jamil is affiliated confirmed his arrest in a post shared on X.

The first information report lodged by the agency said the accused was “found sharing and propagating highly intimidating content/tweets on social media/Twitter” (now X), Dawn reported.

The FIR invoked Section 20 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), which states: “Whoever intentionally and publicly exhibits or displays or transmits any information through any information system, which he knows to be false, and intimidates or harms the reputation or privacy of a natural person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to one million rupees or with both," Dawn reported.

In addition, the FIR included Section 505 (statement conducing to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The FIR said, "The accused had knowingly misinterpreted and disseminated anti-state narrative by sharing false misleading and baseless information which are also likely to cause fear in the public and may incite anyone to commit an offence against the state or the state institution or public tranquillity."

The agency further said that the "accused persons including Muhammad Khalid Jamil propagated, promoted and glorified anti-state, provocative and hatred narrative against the state institutions.”

The FIA did not reveal details regarding other individuals involved in the alleged crime, according to Dawn report.

The agency called such intimidating content of blaming and naming through social media accounts a mischievous act of subversion to create a rift between the general public and state institutions to “harm the state of Pakistan”.

It further said that the accused through such intimidating content including videos "attempted to provoke the general public against the state institutions including judiciary, by trying to create a feeling of ill-will among pillars of the state."

The journalist community has condemned the arrest of Khalid Jamil. They have called for an explanation for the action taken by the agency.

Earlier, a senior Pakistani journalist Fayaz Zafar has been arrested by the Pakistan local police under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO), ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Earlier, a day before Pakistan's 76th Independence Day, Jan Mohammad Mahar, a top journalist working for a private Sindhi daily and TV station, was fatally shot on August 13 night outside St. Saviour School on Queens Road, according to Dawn.

According to the area police, the assailants shot several fires at Mahar, who was travelling in his car.

Earlier in May, a Senior Pakistani journalist Sami Abraham was reportedly 'abducted' by unidentified men in Islamabad on Wednesday, his family claimed, saying that there was no information available regarding his location, Dawn reported.

Abraham was detained by law enforcement. Still, a statement from the capital police stated they would work with the journalist's family and make every effort to find him, family sources said.

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