ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday announced the arrest of a “most wanted” suspect in a shipwreck off Greece in June, which claimed hundreds of migrant lives.
On June 14, a weathered trawler foundered in the vicinity of Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula, with approximately 750 individuals from Pakistan, Egypt and Syria aboard who were bound for Italy from Libya. Only 104 of them were rescued.
Officials said more than 350 Pakistanis were among the passengers who were escaping challenging economic circumstances at home for a brighter future in Europe.
Following the tragedy, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif had pledged to take decisive measures against human smugglers, prompting the FIA to initiate a campaign against the illicit operators.
“The most wanted human trafficker involved in the Greek boat accident has been arrested by the FIA’s Gujrat circle,” the anti-crime agency said in a statement.
The individual in question, Javed Hussain, had been sought by the FIA in connection with seven separate cases and was a key suspect in the Greek shipwreck, according to the statement. He was the “front man” of another most wanted human trafficker, Hamza Sunyara, who operates from Libya.
Hussain had evaded authorities and gone into hiding following the June 14 shipwreck.
“The suspect was running an international human trafficking network from Gujrat and was involved in illegally sending innocent citizens from Libya to Europe,” the FIA said.
FIA teams conducted multiple raids and utilized the latest forensic techniques to successfully apprehend the suspect, according to the agency. An investigation into the matter was underway.
Pakistan arrests ‘most wanted’ human trafficker linked with Greece shipwreck that killed hundreds
https://arab.news/bhynq
Pakistan arrests ‘most wanted’ human trafficker linked with Greece shipwreck that killed hundreds
- On June 14, a weathered trawler foundered off Greece, with nearly 750 migrants aboard
- Officials estimated at the time that over 350 Pakistanis were aboard the ill-fated trawler
Pakistan bans ex-army officer, YouTuber Adil Raja under Anti-Terrorism Act
- Pakistan interior ministry says Raja misused online platforms to promote, facilitate anti-state narratives
- Raja, a UK-based YouTuber-commentator, is a harsh critic of Pakistan’s government, powerful military
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal government has listed a former army officer and pro-Imran Khan YouTuber-commentator Adil Raja as a proscribed person in the Anti-Terrorism Act for pushing anti-state narratives, the interior ministry said this week.
Raja, who is now a UK-based blogger who broadcasts political commentary on Pakistan, is severely critical of the government and the military in his YouTube vlogs. Critics also accuse him of being biased in favor of former prime minister Imran Khan.
Pakistani officials have accused Raja of running propaganda campaigns from abroad in the past. Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met British High Commissioner Jane Marriott in Islamabad this month and formally handed over extradition documents for Raja. The UK government has so far not commented on the development.
In a notification issued on Saturday, the interior ministry said the government believes Raja has been demonstrating involvement in activities “posing a serious threat to the security, integrity and public order of Pakistan.”
“He has consistently misused online platforms to promote, facilitate and amplify anti-state narratives and propaganda associated with proscribed terrorist organizations, thereby acting in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty and defense of Pakistan,” a notification by the interior ministry said.
“Now, therefore in exercise of the powers conferred by section 11EE of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, the Federal Government is pleased to direct to list Mr. Adil Farooq Raja, s/o Umer Farooq Raja, in the Fourth Schedule to the said Act as a proscribed person for the purposes of the said Act.”
Section 11EE empowers the government to list a person under the Fourth Schedule if there are reasonable grounds to believe that he/she is involved in “terrorism” or is an activist, office bearer or an associate of an organization kept under observation under the same Act, or is suspected to be concerned with any organization suspected to be involved in “terrorism.”
Those placed on the Fourth Schedule by the government are subjected to intense scrutiny and movement restrictions.
In a post on social media platform X, Raja denied any wrongdoing, saying the government had banned him after failing to extradite him from the UK.
“This designation is not a consequence of any crime, but a direct reprisal for my practice of journalism,” he wrote.
Raja was also among two retired army officers who were convicted and sentenced under the Army Act, and for violations of the provisions of the Official Secrets Act in 2023.
The former army officer was given 14 years of rigorous imprisonment by a military court.
Khan, a former cricket star who served as Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has been in jail since August 2023 on multiple charges his party says are politically motivated.
Despite incarceration, he remains the country’s most popular opposition figure, commanding one of the largest digital followings in South Asia.
Overseas Pakistanis in particular drive sustained online activism on platforms such as YouTube and X, campaigning for his release and alleging human-rights abuses against Khan and his supporters, claims the Pakistani state rejects.
