Court sends senior journalist into judicial custody
A trial court of Islamabad on Saturday rejected the National Counter Terrorism and Crime Investigation Agency’s (NCCIA) request for the physical remand of senior journalist Fakhar Rehman and sent him to Adiala Jail on judicial remand.
The 61-year-old journalist, who is affiliated with a Turkish news channel, was produced before the court of Duty Magistrate Yasir Mahmood following his arrest from his residence a day earlier on Friday.
The arrest was made in connection with a case registered under the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).
The case is based on a post on X (formerly Twitter).
In the post, Rehman had likened the Tarnol Railway Crossing to the Strait of Hormuz and also shared a video. During the hearing, the NCCIA sought physical remand, arguing that although Rehman acknowledged posting the tweet, he had refused to provide the password to his mobile device for content verification.
The court, however, dismissed the request, admitting the defence’s stance that the journalist had merely shared a news content and that the post in question had already been deleted prior to the registration of the FIR.
Barrister Ahad Khokhar, counsel for the accused, contended that Rehman had not authored the content himself but had shared it in his professional capacity as a journalist. He further argued that the FIR did not establish any direct link between the accused and a specific offense. Khokhar also raised concerns about what he termed as “false propaganda” circulating on social media, alleging that Rehman was being wrongly associated with a non-existent account named “Islamabad Post.”
The court also took into consideration Rehman’s health condition. According to his family, he suffers from a serious liver ailment, with only 30 per cent liver function remaining, and had experienced a life-threatening medical emergency five years ago.
Following the rejection of the physical remand plea, the magistrate ordered that Fakhar Rehman be presented again at the next hearing while remaining in judicial custody.
The veteran journalist, who has over 35 years of experience covering the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, did not talk to media on the occasion.
