ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and police to stop harassing Arshad Sharif and any other journalist.
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah presided over the hearing on the anchor’s petition and questioned what the issue was. According to Sharif’s counsel Faisal Chaudhry, he was instructed by the anchor last night to approach the court since “he was being harassed”.
“I got a call from Arshad Sharif last night. The story about the prime minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia was broken by him. People went to Sharif’s house in civil uniform last night. I have not been in direct contact with Arshad Sharif since last night,” the lawyer said.
The court order added that the counsel further contended he had not been able to establish contact with Sharif and that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the FIA had “malafidely and illegally detained the petitioner”.
He said that “illegal actions” were also being initiated against fellow ARY News anchor Sabir Shakir. The court observed that the petitioner was suspicious of the FIA wanting to illegally detain Sharif.
In its order, the court directed the FIA’s Director General Muhammad Tahir Rai and Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammad Ahsan Younas to nominate their representatives to appear before the court on Friday.
Following Justice Minallah’s directives to the law enforcement agencies against harassment of journalists, including Sharif, the hearing was adjourned till 10:30am tomorrow.
Earlier, anchorperson Moeed Mirzada had alleged that men in plainclothes, purportedly from the FIA, had barged into Sharif’s house and harassed his family in the early hours of Thursday. “If FIA has a case, it should send notices — let courts examine; state agencies should not act like criminals!” he said.
FIA and govt issue response
Meanwhile, the FIA, in a statement, said that it had “neither arrested nor harassed” Sharif and chalked up the reports as “fake news”.
— Federal Investigation Agency – FIA (@FIA_Agency) April 28, 2022
It said the “propaganda” being spread against the watchdog was “deplorable” and warned of possible legal action against the culprits.
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb termed the reports about the alleged harassment of Sharif as “inflammatory propaganda against the government”.
