Urdu update here | English translation by Romessa Nadeem
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cybercrime Wing issued a second summons to journalist Asad Toor for June 4 after the Islamabad High Court suspended a summons issued to him last month. Asad Toor has also filed another petition in the Islamabad High Court challenging the second notice issued by the FIA. He received the second FIA notice after being tortured by unknown individuals.
The petition filed by Asad Toor said that on July 4 last month, the Islamabad High Court had suspended the notice issued to him by the FIA, citing the reckless use of Section 20 of the Anti-Electronic Crime Act (PECA) and raising concerns about freedom of expression being affected. Asad Toor said that the court order is still in force but despite this, the FIA has issued him another notice which has no date of issuance. He has only been told that he will have to go to the Cybercrime Reporting Center Rawalpindi on June 4.
Asad Toor said that an allegation was not even mentioned in the notice sent by the FIA. He has requested the court to give relief by making this notice part of the record of the case already pending. In addition to the federal government and the FIA, he has also made Shiffa Yousafzai, the host of a morning show on the private TV channel Hum News, a party. It may be recalled that the first notice issued to Asad Toor by the FIA was allegedly received on the complaint of Shifa Yousafzai, which has been suspended by the Islamabad High Court.
Following the FIA’s notice to journalist Asad Toor, the Islamabad High Court had already raised the legal question of whether section 20 of the Cybercrime Act is unconstitutional. Senior counsel Hamid Khan, Abid Hassan Manto and Vice Chairman Pakistan Bar Council have also been appointed judicial assistants on the matter. A reply is likely to be submitted by them tomorrow. The court also called the FIA’s notice the worst example of censorship.
