The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Qazi Faez Isa, has responded to concerns about journalists being harassed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
He has decided to look into the situation by taking special legal action known as “suo motu notice”. This is happening against claims that there is a campaign to harm the reputation of higher-ranking judges.
A special team of three Supreme Court judges, led by the Chief Justice himself, along with Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali, will review the matter. They plan to start their investigations on Monday.
The decision for this action was made after a meeting with the leaders of the Press Association of the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court Journalist Association, who had recently passed a resolution on this issue.
The case will also include similar concerns put forward in 2021 by the Press Association.
Officials including the attorney general of Pakistan, the chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), the director general of the FIA, and the chief of Islamabad police have been called upon to appear in court in person.
The journalists’ associations have expressed disappointment over the FIA’s actions, which they believe are intimidating to reporters and violate the freedoms protected by the constitution.
They demand that the FIA take back its warnings and have threatened to take further collective actions if the situation does not improve.
Journalist Siddique Jan mentioned that although he didn’t directly receive the FIA’s notice, he found out about it through social media. He noted that the notice didn’t clearly state the charge but referred to a “campaign against judges of the Supreme Court”.
He expressed concern that personal information disclosed in the notice, such as home address and national ID number, put journalists like him at risk.
Siddique Jan plans to present his concerns in front of the Supreme Court on Monday. Other journalists, including Matiullah Jan and Saqib Bashir, also discovered the FIA’s notices through social media and criticized them.
They pointed out that such actions contradict a recent court decision that states defamation complaints should be made by the individuals affected, not the state.
The notices were issued amidst an investigation by a five-member team regarding a negative campaign on social media aimed at Supreme Court judges. This followed a court ruling that affected a political party’s symbol, which was a significant decision.
Other journalists potentially affected by this issue, according to social media sources, include Asad Ali Toor, Paras Jahanzeb, Iqrarul Hassan, and several more.
