Farhan Asif, Pakistani man who was arrested and facing case related to disinformation about UK riots, has been freed as FIA found no evidence against him.
The apex investigation agency dropped case against the man who was arrested last week due to disinformation article believed to incite UK riots.
A local court in Lahore dismissed charges against Farhan, who runs a clickbait website.
Farhan Asif UK Riots Case
The riots comes in wake of fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport, and an investigation into the spread of false information linked to a Pakistani-based website.
British media claimed that Farhan’s site Channel3Now pushed propaganda about suspect in the case was a Muslim immigrant.
He was held for being prime suspect responsible for misinformation. Farhan Asif was arrested by Lahore police and later transferred to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) cybercrime unit.
Earlier this month, a judicial magistrate granted Federal agency one-day physical custody of Asif for allegedly posting the misleading article. His remand was extended by four days the following day. After completing his remand period, Asif appeared before Judicial Magistrate Hamidur Rehman Nasir.
A request for his acquittal was submitted by Najibullah Niazi from the FIA, noting that Asif had been found innocent after five days of interrogation. The request urged the court to formally clear Asif of the charges.
UK anti-racism protesters take to streets after days of far-right unrest
