ISLAMABAD: A judicial magistrate of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday handed over the custody of journalist Mohammad Khalid Jamil to the FIA on two days physical remand.

The FIA had arrested Jamil on Thursday and presented before the FIA Judicial Magistrate Shabbir Bhatti.

The investigation agency requested for a 10-day physical remand but the judicial magistrate allowed for two days only.

Mohammad Munib Zafar, a sub-inspector of the FIA, requested for physical remand on the grounds of investigation and technical analysis of electronic devices and his social media accounts.

During the hearing, the court inquired Jamil on how he was being treated in FIA’s custody but the journalist did not report any maltreatment by the investigating officer.

Defence Counsel Naveed Malik and Barrister Jahangir Khan Jadoon opposed the physical remand and termed the registration of the FIR against the journalist contradictory to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for making arrest in the cases related to cyber crimes.

The FIA’s Cyber Crime Wing registered the FIR against Jamil under Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) for maligning the state institutions and the judiciary.

Advocate Malik argued that the constitution gives freedom of expression and speech to every citizen so Mr Jamil could not be taken into custody on a mere social media upload.

However, the court directed the Federal Investigation Agency to present Jamil on Sept 24.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2023