A judicial magistrate in Islamabad on Saturday ordered the release of journalist Khalid Jamil, who was arrested by the National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA) a day earlier, noting that “there is no incriminating material” against him.

According to a first information report (FIR), seen by Dawn.com, Jamil was accused of “sharing highly intimidating content on social media X on May 7”.

It stated that he “knowingly disseminated/propagated, fake, false, misleading and misinterpreted information leading to hatred against the government functionaries, including members of national security”.

The FIR said that a review of Jamil’s “broader social media activities reveals a deliberate pattern of conduct involving mocking, ridiculing, and maligning state institutions with the clear intent to instigate public discontent”.

A case was registered at the NCCIA Cyber Crime Reporting Centre on Aug 8 under Section 20 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (Peca) (offenses against dignity of natural person) and Section 26A (dissemination of false and fake information).

The investigation officer (IO) today presented Jamil before the Islamabad Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Mureed Khan Abbas Khan. The IO sought the journalist’s remand for six days for “for the purpose of investigation as well as collection of evidence”.

However, the magistrate in his order noted that “as per (the) contents of FIR remarks quoted in FIR does not fall within any ambit of propagation or derogation”.

He added that “it is prime liberty of every citizen regarding the freedom of speech which is also guaranteed by Constitution of Pakistan”.

“Therefore, request for physical remand of accused person is hereby turned down and accused namely Khalid Jamil is hereby discharged from the instant case.”

Human rights lawyer and the petitioner’s counsel Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir confirmed to Dawn.com that Jamil was discharged today.

“The constituent elements for either of the offences could not be seen from the FIR itself or the record. These sections simply were not made out — in fact, that specific tweet was mainly about historical facts,” she said.

“So there is no question of Section 20 or 26A being invoked.”

In 2023, Jamil was arrested on charges of spreading “provocative narrative” against state institutions through social media posts. He was detained under Section 20 of the Peca Act and subsequently released after getting bail.

Peca, since its introduction in 2016, has been widely criticised as a “black law” created mainly to punish dissent. In the eight years since its enactment, it has been used extensively against politicians, journalists, rights activists, and even ordinary political workers.

The National Assembly in January passed a controversial amendment bill to the country’s cybercrime laws amid a walkout by PTI lawmakers and journalists from the proceedings.

On March 20, journalist Farhan Mallick, the founder of media agency Raftar and a former news director at Samaa TV, was arrested in a case pertaining to running allegedly “anti-state” content on his outlet’s YouTube channel. He was booked under Peca and the Pakistan Penal Code. He was later granted bail by separate Karachi courts, but the proceedings are still underway.

A few days later, journalist Waheed Murad, who works with Urdu News, was produced before an Islamabad court by the Federal Investigation Agency, which had booked him under Sections 9 (glorification of an offence), 10 (cyber-terrorism), 20 (malicious code) and 26A (punishment for false and fake information) of the Peca. He too was granted post-arrest bail by an Islamabad court against Rs20,000 surety bail bonds following his two-day physical remand. However, he still facing legal proceedings.