Pakistani journalist charged with disinfo after home raid
Pakistani journalist charged with disinfo after home raid
A Pakistani journalist was charged Wednesday with spreading disinformation online hours after his family reported he was seized in an overnight raid on his home.
Muhammad Waheed Murad, a multimedia journalist for Saudi-owned Urdu News, is the second reporter in recent days to come up against Pakistan's strengthened laws targeting online content.
Murad is facing several charges including committing "cyber terrorism" and spreading "false and fake information".
A judge ordered he be remanded in custody for two days, an AFP journalist at the Islamabad court reported.
The Federal Investigation Agency , which deals with cybercrime, had requested the journalist be held for 10 days.
The charge sheet seen by AFP accused Murad of glorifying a deadly attack on a train carried out by separatists in Balochistan province.
Murad was detained at around 2:00 am when more than a dozen people stormed his home, his mother-in-law Abida Nawaz said in a video.
Before his appearance in court, the journalist's lawyer had filed a petition stating unidentified officials "presumably from intelligence agencies" arrived in double-cabin trucks that they typically use.
"The pattern of his abduction was the same as in the past," Imaan Mazari told AFP.
"The abductors, their modus operandi, and the way they stormed the house in the dead of night make it clear who they are."
His arrest follows the detention Thursday of Farhan Mallick, founder of Pakistani internet media channel Raftar, who is facing charges of "anti-state posts and fake news".
In the same week two brothers of exiled journalist Ahmad Noorani were kidnapped from their family home after he wrote about the growing influence of the powerful military chief's family.
The FIA charge sheet against Murad mentions he shared Noorani's content on his social media accounts, which is "likely to cause fear, panic, unrest and disorder in the general public".
Murad has previously criticised the role of Pakistan's military, which analysts say is deeply involved in the country's politics and economy.
The country has been ruled by the military for several decades of its 77-year history and criticism of the security establishment has long been seen as a red line.
Rights groups have accused Islamabad's shadowy intelligence agencies of "disappearing" critics, an allegation the military denies.
Pakistani journalists have reported rising state censorship in recent years and the public has shifted to consuming much of its news from social media.
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists earlier Wednesday condemned what it called an "enforced abduction" of the reporter.
"Such actions against journalists are unacceptable and threaten the very fabric of democracy and press freedom," the group said in a statement.
The criminalisation of online disinformation has spread fear in Pakistan, with journalists among those worried about the potentially wide reach of the law.
Pakistan is ranked 152 out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders' press freedom index.
Islamabad has been criticised by watchdogs for restricting internet access, including temporary bans on YouTube and TikTok, while X remains officially blocked.
str-zz/rsc
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
