November 1, 2024
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
A journalist, arrested for interviewing under-custody suspects in a murder incest case, on Friday was discharged of the cybercrime offences by a local magistrate.
Fraz Nizam, an anchorperson for the Urdu Point web portal, was taken into custody by the cybercrime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on October 31. In the first week of October, Nizam initially received a notice from the FIA over a video uploaded in February that featured his interview with siblings accused of murder following an incestuous relationship. The FIA claimed to have acted on a petition of public interest filed by a lawyer over a month ago and booked Nizam for the video uploaded by Urdu Point. The FIA refused to share a copy of the FIR or reveal the exact details and offences against him.
In the hearing before the judicial magistrate, the FIA Assistant Director Legal pleaded that the case against the journalist was registered through cyber patrolling for which the Lahore High Court has given directions. She said the accused person intentionally and publicly shared the interview of criminal persons, adding that the interview’s content has the impact of inducing and enticing young generation to engage in such sexually explicit acts. Nizam was accused of committing offences under Sections 21 (1 )(d), 24, 24(a) of the PECA 2016.
Zain Ali Qureshi, counsel for Nizam, argued that the accused is a journalist reporting for the web portal. The counsel said the FIA has placed no statement of any victim before the court. He submitted that offence under Section 21 (d) of the cybercrime law could only be charged if the accused ‘cultivates, entices or induces a natural person to engage in the sexually-explicit act’.
The judicial magistrate noted that the FIA official portrayed that the case was registered on the directions of the LHC but she failed to produce any direction from the LHC in the court. “There is nothing on record that the LHC made any specific order regarding action against the accused persons under any specific provision of law,” the magistrate wrote in his order, adding that it was the duty of FIA to register the case under the proper provision of law, which applied on the accused. The magistrate discharged Nizam of the offences mentioned in the FIR. “Morevover, the accused is a crime reporter and the contents of the interview are also not of such kind which may bring the act of the accused under the ambit of Section 21 (d), Section 20 and Section 24 (a) are non-cognizable therefore the FIR could not be registered and investigation could not be conducted without the permission of the magistrate,” reads the court order. Susbsequently, Nizam was released from custody in the case.
In a statement, the Lahore Press Club condemned the FIA action against Nizam. The press club said the video was recorded in the presence of police officials after getting prior permission. Arshad Ansari, president of Lahore Press Club, said the FIA was routinely targeting journalists, callining on the prime minister and the interior minister to take note of the treatment meted out to Nizam by the federal agency.