Islamabad, March 18 (IANS) Pakistan’s habit to control media internally seems to be evolving into an effort to influence independent media in other parts of the world, a report has indicated highlighting Islamabad’s growing efforts to deliberately suppress independent, fact based reporting that exposes its internal contradictions, security failures, and political vulnerabilities. “Pakistan’s long running attempts to shape media narratives are no longer limited to its domestic press environment…
Latest Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act News & Updates
Ottawa, March 2 (IANS) The Canadian student who was arrested in Pakistan while conducting research for his dissertation has not been granted bail. Hamza Ahmed Khan’s brother, Awes Ahmed Khan, said that there was no reason to keep his brother in prison, local media reported. “There is no reason to keep him behind bars. It feels like the system wants to punish him before a trial. We’ve not slept properly in a week,” Canada’s leading media outlet CBC News quoted Awes as saying.Hamza Ahmed Khan, a d…
Islamabad, Feb 24 (IANS) Five United Nations special rapporteurs have voiced concern over criminal proceedings against human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha in Pakistan, stressing that the charges made against them may be used to suppress legal advocacy and freedom of expression, local media reported on Tuesday. In a formal communication sent to the Pakistani government, the UN experts voiced concerns regarding the convictions of the two lawyers under the Prevention…
Islamabad, Feb 14 (IANS) Raising serious doubts over the freedom of press in Pakistan, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), has condemned the use of legal harassment to prolong detention of digital journalist and YouTube host Sohrab Barkat and called for his immediate release. 31-year-old Barkat, an Islamabad-based correspondent for Pakistani news outlet Siasat, was detained at Islamabad International Airport while…
Islamabad, Feb 11 (IANS) The sentencing of human rights attorney couple Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha in Pakistan has sparked condemnation from the United Nations, international legal bodies, and the country’s rights groups, according to a report. “The critics warn that the case represents a dangerous escalation in the suppression of dissent and legal advocacy in Pakistan. The couple were sentenced in January 2026 by a sessions court in Islamabad under Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic C…
Geneva, Jan 30 (IANS) The United Nations Human Rights Office, along with several other human rights and legal organisations, strongly condemned the conviction and sentencing of Pakistani human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chatta, citing concerns over the misuse of laws under Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) to suppress dissent across the country.The remarks came after a Pakistani court last week reportedly sentenced Imaan and her husband, Hadi, to …
New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) Pakistan’s criminal justice system, long plagued by chronic delays and a staggering backlog of over 2.4 million pending cases as reported by the Law and Justice Commission, has come under intense scrutiny through a prominent cybercrime trial involving human rights lawyer Iman Zainab Mazari and political activist Hadi Ali Chattha. The case, initiated in August 2025 under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), exemplifies the tensions between judicial authority, p…
Islamabad, Jan 24 (IANS) Pakistani journalists have increasingly been subjected to intimidation in recent years under the country’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act for their online reporting, as well as through criminal defamation cases filed by public officials or private individuals. Journalists covering protests, political movements and sensitive regional issues face threats ranging from harassment to physical violence, a report said on Saturday. According to a report in ‘Journalism P…
Islamabad, Jan 17 (IANS) A leading human rights organisation called on Pakistani authorities to end judicial harassment of human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chatta in what it described as a “bogus case” relating to “anti-state” tweets.The remarks followed an order by the Islamabad district and sessions court on Friday instructing Pakistani law enforcement authorities to arrest lawyer and activist Imaan and her husband, Hadi, “within 24 hours”, warning that non-complian…
Islamabad, Jan 8 (IANS) A Pakistani magistrate has sent journalist Muhammad Aslam Shah to prison on judicial remand a day after he was arrested by National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in a case lodged under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2025, local media reported on Thursday. The case was registered against Shah on December 29 after Tabish Raza Husnain, said to be an official of Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC), filed a complaint against him under Secti…