LAHORE: A Pakistani court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking a ban on popular online video game Players’ Unknown Battle Ground (PUBG), local media reported.
A citizen, Tanveer Sarwar, had moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) to ban the game weeks after a teenager confessed to killing four members of his family in a rage after bingeing for days playing online.
Police said Ali Zain had shot dead his mother, two sisters and a brother in Lahore on January 18, and claimed under questioning that the game had driven him to violence.
Sarwar contended in his plea that PUBG was creating intolerance in the society, especially in youngsters, who were addicted to it, Geo News channel reported.
“The LHC disposed of the plea over the petitioner’s discontinuation of the case’s pursuit,” the report read.
Last month, police in the central Pakistani province of Punjab also recommended a ban on PUBG, in relation to the Lahore family massacre.
“To stop acts of violence caused by this game, it is necessary to ban PUBG,” the police said. “Youngsters addicted to completing the game’s tasks eventually commit acts of violence.”
Pakistan banned PUBG in July 2020 after the country’s telecom regulator said it had received numerous complaints that the game “affects physical and mental health” of children and teenagers.
“The game is highly addictive, destroying the youth, a wastage of time and has a negative impact on physical and psychological health,” the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said at the time.
However, the ban was lifted the same month on the orders of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Pakistani court dismisses plea seeking ban on popular video game PUBG
https://arab.news/4ppkd
Pakistani court dismisses plea seeking ban on popular video game PUBG
- Development comes weeks after a teenager shot his mother and three siblings dead in Lahore
- Pakistan imposed a ban on PUBG in July 2020 but removed it the same month on court orders
Court sentences Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan, wife to 17 years in prison in graft case
- The case involves a jewelry set worth over €380,000 gifted to the former first lady when Khan was PM
- The couple were convicted of undervaluing the gift and buying it at a lesser price from state repository
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court on Saturday sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to 17 years in prison each in a graft case, dealing another major legal blow to the jailed opposition leader who faces a string of cases.
The reference, popularly called the new Toshakhana case, was filed in July 2024 and involves a jewelry set worth over €380,000 gifted to the former first lady by a foreign dignitary when Khan was prime minister from 2018-2022.
The couple, accused of undervaluing the gift and buying it at a lesser price from the state repository, were indicted in the case in Dec. last year. In October, they denied the charges against them, saying the case was a “politically motivated” attempt to disqualify Khan from politics.
Both Khan and his wife were handed down 10-year rigorous imprisonment under sections 34 (common intention) and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Pakistan Penal Code, and seven years under Section 5(2) (criminal misconduct by public servants) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
“This court, while passing sentences has considered the old age of Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi, as well as the fact that Bushra Imran Khan is a female,” read a copy of the court verdict.
“It is in consideration of both said factors that a lenient view has been taken in awarding lesser punishment.”
Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023, faces a slew of cases which the former premier says have been politically motivated.
His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has long campaigned against the military and government, accusing the generals of ousting him together with his rivals. Khan’s opponents deny this, while the military says it does not meddle in politics.
On Friday, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) acquitted Khan aide and former foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, but awarded 10-year prison sentences to senior PTI figures, including Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Mian Mehmood-ur-Rashid, Omer Sarfraz Cheema and former senator Ejaz Chaudhry in a case linked to violent riots in May 2023.
