Court directs US blogger to submit response on 13th
Zubair Qureshi
An Additional District & Sessions judge Atta Rabbani on Tuesday sought response from the US blogger Cynthia Ritchie on a petition filed by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) President of Islamabad Shakeel Abbasi for registration of a case against her over a defamatory campaign against Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister and assassinated chairperson of the PPP.
Upon refusal by the Islamabad police and the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing to formally lodge an FIR, Abbasi had moved a petition in the District Court of Islamabad.
In its judgment, the court has directed Cynthia Ritchie to submit her reply by June 13, Saturday.
Meanwhile, Cynthia who is in the middle of a controversy by leveling serious allegations against former Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, former Interior Minister Rehman Malik and former Health Minister Makhdoom Shahabudding, three leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has nominated Nasir Azeem Khan, Advocate High Court her counsel. “My counsel will appear in Islamabad District Court on given date and submit my response,” said the US blogger on her Twitter handle.
She also referred to FIA’s stance in the court saying, “FIA has also asked the court to dismiss this matter. My actions on social media don’t fall within ambit of cyber crimes. I have the right to express my opinion.”
Earlier as the proceeding started, FIA in its response raised objection to Abbasi’s petition stating Abbasi was not an affected party and sought the dismissal of the petition.
In the reply, the FIA argued that according to its rules, only the aggrieved party – the targeted victim or their guardian – can lodge such a complaint with the agency. The agency maintained that Abbasi could not file such a complaint as he was not the affected party of Ritchie’s allegations.
The court issued notices to Ritchie and the PTA again seeking their replies on the petition.
The court also accepted PTA’s appeal seeking some time for the reply. The PTA’s counsel had told the court that the authority had not received the court’s notice earlier, and had appeared before the court after coming across media reports on the matter.
The court accepted PTA’s appeal seeking extension in submitting the reply. As per the PTA counsel, he appeared before the court after the news was broadcast on the media.
PPP leader Abbasi has accused Ritchie of running a defamatory campaign against Benazir on social media. PPP had also filed complaints with the PTA and the FIA on the matter and had asked both agencies to remove the said tweets and lodge a case against the blogger.
The petition maintained that PTA and FIA did not take any action and appealed to the court to direct the agencies to take action on the matter.
