PESHAWAR: A local court on Friday sent social activist Gulalai Ismail’s father Prof Mohammad Ismail to Peshawar Central prison on 14-day judicial remand after he was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on charges of cyber terrorism and hate speech.

Prof Ismail was arrested a day earlier by the FIA near the Peshawar High Court where he had gone to attend proceedings of his petition filed for quashing of another case filed against him, his spouse and Gulalai Ismail by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).

Officials of the FIA produced him before a judicial magistrate, stating that a case was registered against the suspect under Section 10 (cyber terrorism) and 11 (hate speech) of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 and Section 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The court sent him to judicial lock-up and asked the FIA to produce him again on Nov 8.

Several lawyers, including Fazal Ilahi Khan and Shahab Khattak, and social activists turned up in support of the suspect.

His lawyers said they would now file a bail petition for his release as he was arrested on “flimsy grounds” just to pressurise his daughter Gulalai, who had escaped to the United States.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2019