World News | Prominent PML-N Activist Gets Bail in 'malicious Campaign' Case Against Pak PM, His Wife and Army
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. A prominent social media activist from the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was released from jail on Tuesday, weeks after he and four others were arrested by the country's top investigating agency for running a "malicious campaign" against Prime Minister Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and the powerful Army on social media.
Lahore, Mar 8 (PTI) A prominent social media activist from the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was released from jail on Tuesday, weeks after he and four others were arrested by the country's top investigating agency for running a "malicious campaign" against Prime Minister Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and the powerful Army on social media.
A social media activist from the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was released from jail on Tuesday, weeks after he and four others were arrested by the country's top investigating agency for running a "malicious campaign" against Prime Minister Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and the Army on social media.
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The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested five people, including PML-N member Sabir Mehmood Hashmi, as part of a nationwide crackdown against those involved in personal attacks on Khan and his wife.
Lahore's additional district and sessions Judge Rai Yasin Shaheen on Monday granted bail to Hashmi who was arrested by the FIA for tweeting that Bibi had left Khan and was living with a close friend in Lahore.
"I have gone through the record minutely where no objectionable, derogatory or abusive tweets were found against the prime minister, his wife or the Pakistan army," the Judge said in his order.
Opposition leader Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif, had hit out at the government for Hashmi's arrest and arranged a top lawyer to fight his case.
"Sabir Hashmi was abducted by the FIA at the behest of Imran Khan. Is Imran Khan a holy cow that he cannot be criticised for his failures and corruption? The FIA should not be used at the hands of the selected prime minister whose days are numbered. The whole party is standing with Hashmi," Maryam had said.
The PML-N and the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) parties often criticise each other on social media. The social media teams of both parties claim that they do not indulge in "derogatory trends".
"We have a team of 3,000 social media volunteers and not a single one of them is paid and indulged in negative campaigns against our opponents," PML-N social media central head Atif Rauf told PTI.
Azhar Mashwani, a social media team official of the PTI Punjab, said they have 800 volunteers in the digital media team who have never encouraged or started any objectionable trend.
Last month, reports surfaced on social media about differences between Prime Minister Khan and his wife.
Responding to the reports, Farah Khan, a close friend of Bibi took to Twitter to announce that the First Lady was living with her husband at the Bani Gala residence.
"Fake propaganda was being spread through Whatsapp messages about the first couple. The First Lady is not living in my house but at Bani Gala in Islamabad,” she said.
Prime Minister Khan had expressed displeasure over the trend of personal attacks.
Condemning the act, he called it “cheap and intolerable,” adding that “such elements cannot be left unchecked and their actions have to be condemned”.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)