A first information report (FIR) has been registered against journalist Asad Toor for posting “negative propaganda against the state, Pakistani institutions and the Pakistan Army” on his social media account, it emerged on Tuesday. Toor, who is based in Islamabad, shared a copy of the FIR on his Twitter account. It was registered on a complaint by Hafiz Ehtesham Ahmed, a resident of Rawalpindi, who claimed that “in the last few days, [Toor] has used derogatory language for high-level government institutions, including the Pakistan Army which is a grave crime according to the law.” The FIR has been registered under sections 499 (defamation), 500 (punishment for defamation) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code and sections 11 (hate speech), 20 (offences against dignity of a person) and 37 (unlawful online content) of the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016.
Toor termed the registration of the FIR a “sad development”. “This is a sad development for me being a journalist because I never wish to be a news myself,” he said.
The case against Toor is the third such complaint to be registered against a journalist in the past few days.
