ISLAMABAD: Social media analyst and vlogger Asad Toor, who is in the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) custody, has gone on a hunger strike, and his health condition is deteriorating, his counsel warned on Thursday.
In a post on social media platform X, Advocate Imaan Zainab Mazari said: “Asad’s mother, his lawyers and his friends are extremely worried about his deteriorating health on hunger strike.
“When we asked Asad the reason for his hunger strike, he said, I am voice of the voiceless so now they are muzzling my voice. I protest this action.”
Earlier, a local court of Islamabad remanded the vlogger in FIA’s custody for five days in connection with a case related to an alleged online campaign against the judiciary and state institutions.
According to the FIR, Mr Toor has been booked under Sections 9, 10 and 24 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca).
Imaan Mazari says family worried about vlogger’s poor health
The sections deal with the offences of glorification of an offence, cyber terrorism and cyberstalking.
According to the FIR, Mr Toor “built a false narrative” and publically launched a “malicious/obnoxious and explicit campaign” against “civil servants/government officials and state institutions”.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed concern over the vlogger’s arrest and demanded his immediate release.
The National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) also expressed concern over the arrest in a post on X.
“NCHR is deeply concerned by the arrest of journalist Asad Toor. The PECA law is a problematic law that needs thorough review. Freedom of speech and information is a fundamental right which must be upheld at all costs,” said the post.
Earlier this week, Mr Toor was arrested by the FIA when he arrived at the agency’s Cyber Crime Reporting Centre in Islamabad to answer a summons notice issued to him, according to his counsel.
In January, the caretaker government had formed a five-member joint investigation team to probe a social media campaign against the judiciary in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to deprive PTI of its iconic ‘bat’ symbol.
Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2024