PESHAWAR: Students of various educational institutions have opposed the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015 (cybercrime bill) and appealed to the Supreme Court chief justice to take a suo motu notice of it before declaring its approval by parliament null and void.

A group of students led by Insaf Students Federation Peshawar region president Shahid Khattak told reporters at the Peshawar Press Club on Monday that the cybercrime bill’s approval by parliament was meant to gag the people’s voice.

“There’s no need for the passage of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill as every institution has rules and regulations and punishment for violation of these laws,” he said, adding that it didn’t suit a democratically elected government to pass laws in parliament to suppress pubic liberty.

Mr. Khattak said laws were already in place against those harassing someone or committing contempt of court and that the Pakistan Electronic Media Regularity Authority, too, had own such laws and therefore, new cybercrime legislation was unnecessary.

He alleged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his cabinet members feared of the people’s voice against the government and therefore, the cybercrime bill was introduced.

Accompanied by student leaders Ashfaq Marwat, Iqbal Dawar, and Haseeb Khattak, Mr. Khattak appealed to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh assemblies to formally reject the cybercrime bill.

He said a gold medalist student, Haseeb Khan, was sentenced to 14 years under the law just for updating status on his social media page.

The student leader feared the cybercrime bill would have adverse consequences for social media users.

He appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan to facilitate the immediate release of the student.

He said PTI chairman Imran Khan and party lawmakers had opposed the cybercrime bill and would try to take opposition parties along for amendments to it.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2016