Islamabad court seeks FIA’s response on Journalist Waheed Murad’s remand challenge
ISLAMABAD – An Islamabad district and sessions court on Thursday issued a notice to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in response to senior journalist Waheed Murad’s plea challenging the judicial magistrate’s order for his physical remand.
A day earlier, a judicial magistrate had approved a two-day physical remand for Murad and handed him over to the FIA.
Murad was arrested earlier this week under sections of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) from his residence, where his mother-in-law was also present. He was later presented before Magistrate Abbas Shah’s court in an FIA case related to spreading fake news.
During today’s hearing, Murad’s counsel, Advocate Imaan Mazari, urged the court to annul the magistrate’s order and shift him to judicial remand. However, the judge advised her to approach the high court for such an appeal. Mazari argued that there was legal precedent for a sessions court to hear such challenges.
Following the arguments, the court issued a notice to the FIA, directing the agency to submit its response by tomorrow morning.
In the previous hearing, the prosecution claimed Murad had shared a post linked to a banned group in Balochistan and required further investigation regarding his social media activity. They also sought the recovery of his mobile phone.
The FIA has charged Murad under PECA, including sections 9 (glorification of an offence), 10 (cyber terrorism), 20 (malicious code), and 26.