Pakistani court grants bail to journalist Asad Toor in anti-judiciary campaign case

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court on Saturday granted bail to journalist Asad Ali Toor in a case registered against him for campaigning against the judiciary.
Toor, a reporter and a popular video blogger in Pakistan, was arrested on Feb. 26 on charges of orchestrating a campaign against the state and its officials, with the “objective to coerce, intimidate, and incite violence” against them through his social media platforms.
His arrest came a month after Pakistan formed a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe a “malicious” social media campaign against the country’s judges. The decision was taken after the Supreme Court decided to uphold a ruling by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to strip jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party of its election symbol. The decision was criticized by Khan supporters, journalists and political analysts on social media. 
In recent months, several of Toor’s posts and videos on YouTube have been critical of government agencies, Pakistan’s military establishment and the Supreme Court.
“The accused has been granted bail in the case mentioned above,” Judge Humayyun Dilawar said in his release orders to Adiala jail superintendent on Saturday. “Hence, if not wanted in any other case, then release [the accused] after verifying surety bonds.”
Pakistani media bodies, including the Press Association of the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court Journalists Association, earlier filed a joint petition requesting the top court to cancel the JIT probing the alleged campaign against the judiciary.
Leading Pakistani media bodies also urged the government and judiciary to intervene to stop what they said was growing censorship and pressure from state institutions.
Pakistani state institutions deny they control media groups.