November 3, 2021
2 mins read

Pakistan prosecutes 2 dozen scribes for criticising military

The Section 20, which criminalises online defamation, and carries a three-year jail term, and up to one million rupees in fine, is the most frequently invoked section of the PECA against journalists….reports Asian Lite News

Around two dozen journalists in Pakistan were charged in the last two years and most of them were prosecuted under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, said a report of the Freedom Network, launched on the eve of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, The News reported.

The Freedom Network 2021 Impunity Report provides insights about the challenges faced by journalists and information practitioners in Pakistan charged under the PECA, the arbitrary exercise of power by the authorities and the response of the justice system, the report said.

The Section 20, which criminalises online defamation, and carries a three-year jail term, and up to one million rupees in fine, is the most frequently invoked section of the PECA against journalists.

“Opinions or criticism of the military and the intelligence agencies is the most frequent complaint against journalists pursued under the PECA. Criticism in general – whether against the executive (both civilian and military) or the judiciary triggered the most complaints against journalists pursued under the PECA law. The prime nature of the complaint was alleged defamation,” it reads. Majority of the journalists were from Pakistan Punjab.

Iqbal Khattak, the executive director of Freedom Network, said Pakistani journalists are increasingly using online spaces to share independent news and critical commentary that are suppressed on traditional media. “We have noticed a corresponding increase in efforts to control online expression, either legally or through coordinated digital campaigns against journalists,” he said. The report supplies evidence that the PECA has emerged as the primary legal instrument to intimidate and silence Pakistani journalists in recent years because it criminalises online expression.

The report’s findings are based on the analysis of cases of 23 journalists and information practitioners who were either sent notices by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) under PECA or charged with offences under the same law during the period 2019-21. The analysis was done on data, provided by these journalists and information practitioners through a special impunity measurement template, based on the comprehensive Impunity Index developed by the Freedom Network.

The analysis found that the cases were registered against 56 per cent of journalists and informational practitioners who had a brush with the PECA between 2019 and 2012. Out of the individuals who were formally charged, around 70 per cent were arrested and half of them were subjected to torture in custody.

ALSO READ: Religious minorities under attack in Pakistan

Previous Story

Pak NSA won’t attend meet on Afghanistan in New Delhi

Next Story

Millions internally displaced in Afghanistan

Latest from -Top News

Trump unhappy with deadly strikes on Kyiv 

The president said he is “putting a lot of pressure” on both sides to end the war in Ukraine, following the deadliest attacks Kyiv has seen since last July  President Donald Trump

Macron: ‘We Stand with India’

Macron said that France will stand together with its allies and would continue the fight against terrorism wherever necessary….reports Asian Lite News French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday spoke to Prime Minister

Pakistan Slams IWT Move as ‘Act of War’

Islamabad also said that India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) will be considered as an “act of war”…reports Asian Lite News The high-level emergency meeting of Pakistan’s National Security

Modi: We’ll Hunt Them Down

The Prime Minister thanked nations that extended support to India in the aftermath of the terror attack…reports Asian Lite News In his first address after the horrific terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Farmers’ protest to rattle Islamabad soon

Kissan Ittehad Chairman Khalid Mehmood Khokhar said that several marches

Pak people unhappy with Imran-TTP deal

The opposition parties too are angry because they were kept