ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s attorney general Khalid Jawed Khan told a court on Thursday the government had stopped implementing a controversial section in a cybercrime law which journalists and civil society activists said was designed to curb media freedom in the country.
Last month, President Arif Alvi approved an amendment to Section 20 of the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) which increased the jail term for social media users convicted of disseminating “fake news” from two to five years.
The ordinance also made it mandatory for courts to decide such cases within six months.
The attorney general made the disclosure during the hearing of a petition filed against PECA at the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
“The attorney general informed the court that the government was ready to consult all the stakeholders regarding PECA and that a commission would be formed without whose recommendation no action will be taken,” reported The Express Tribune.
During the hearing of the case, Chief Justice Athar Minallah asked if the government wanted to take the country in a direction where there was no criticism of public officeholders.
In response, the attorney general said he had met the prime minister and apprised him about the law.
He added the prime minister “expressed astonishment” on Section 20 of the ordinance, adding the government was ready to form a commission comprising former high court judges and civil society members before taking any action under PECA.
“I have apprised the prime minister that some things will be retracted from the ordinance. We will also take Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors and all stakeholders on board,” he added.
The PFUJ lawyer, present at the hearing, said the union was ready to hold talks with the government.
The court subsequently adjourned the proceeding of the case until March 14, directing the attorney general to submit his final arguments regarding the ordinance.
Government not implementing Section 20 of cybercrime law – attorney general
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Government not implementing Section 20 of cybercrime law – attorney general
- The controversial section of the law substantially increases jail term for social media users convicted of disseminating ‘fake news’
- Attorney general says the government is ready to form a commission on cybercrime law, talk to stakeholders
Blast kills six policemen in northwest Pakistan amid Afghanistan operation
- The explosion targeted a police vehicle in Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
- It comes after Pakistan’s overnight ‘precision strikes’ against militant hideouts in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: At least six policemen were killed in an explosion in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the interior ministry said on Friday, amid Pakistan’s continuing strikes against alleged militant hideouts in Afghanistan.
The explosion took place in the Lakki Marwat district near a police vehicle following an attempted drone strike by Afghan Taliban forces in Kohat, according to Pakistani officials.
Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militant attacks in KP, which borders Afghanistan, by the Pakistani Taliban, who have mounted assaults since the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in 2021.
“The brave soldiers of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police sacrificed their lives today for the nation’s peaceful tomorrow,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said, lauding police personnel in the restive region.
In a statement issued from his office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack in Lakki Marwat and extended his prayers and best wishes for the deceased and injured personnel.
“We will never let sacrifices of police personnel and security forces go in vain,” he said. We are determined to completely eradicate terrorism from the country.”
The bomb attack came a day after two suspected militants were killed and four others were arrested during a joint operation conducted by police, counter-terrorism department and pro-government militias in the same district, police said.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of failing to rein in militant groups that it says use Afghan soil to plan and launch attacks in Pakistan, a charge Kabul denies.
Last month, Pakistan conducted air strikes against what it said were Pakistani Taliban and Daesh targets in Afghanistan, provoking the Afghan side to retaliate across their shared border. The two neighbors have since been locked in a conflict.
