Journalist sent to jail on 14-day judicial remand in Pakistan

Karachi, Mar 25 (PTI) A senior Pakistani journalist was on Tuesday sent to jail on a 14-day judicial remand in Karachi for allegedly airing anti-state content on his digital platform.
    Farhan Mallick, arrested last week by the police from his residence, was produced before the Judicial Magistrate East in Karachi City Court on Tuesday.
    His lawyer informed the court that Mallick is a journalist and founder of Raftar, a digital news platform, and had requested to be discharged from the case.
    The investigating officer informed the court that his digital channel had posted anti-state videos. The court then asked the officer to specify which videos were involved and to show them. Additionally, the court inquired about the complainant in the case.
    After hearing the arguments, the court sent Mallick to jail on 14 days of judicial remand and issued notices regarding his bail application.
    Mallick, a former news director at Samaa TV, was arrested on March 20 in Karachi and booked under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) as well as the Pakistan Penal Code.
    The next day, he was handed into the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) custody for four days.
    The FIR filed on March 20 against Mallick states that he was involved in posting anti-state videos on his channel targeting dignitaries.
    Any person found guilty of spreading such information could be sentenced to up to three years in prison or fined up to 2 million, or both under the new PECA act.
    Media bodies and rights activists have slammed the arrest of Mallick and Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders.
    The Sindh government has also come down hard on BYC leaders, who were arrested for trying to hold a protest outside the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday.
    BYC leader Sammi Deen Baloch and four others were arrested and detained for 30 days under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).
    They were protesting the arrest of their senior leaders, including founder Mahrang Baloch, for holding protests in Quetta, Balochistan.
    The Balochistan government has filed an FIR against Mahrang and other senior leaders with anti-terrorism and anti-state clauses.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)