FIA traces 500 accounts involved in campaign against judiciary: Solangi

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Federal Information Minister Affairs Murtaza Solangi said that 500 social media accounts involved in the malicious campaign against the superior judiciary have been traced.

Speaking at a talk show on private channel, Murtaza Solangi said that tracking those who were involved in the malicious campaign against the superior judiciary is not a difficult task for the professionals in the departments concerned.

He said that Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had monitored around 500 social media accounts operating both within the country and abroad in this regard. He said the anti-judiciary campaign was being probed and nobody would be allowed to run malicious propaganda against the honourable justices.

This was a serious violation of the law and the constitution, he said vowing strict action against the involved individuals.

Murtaza Solangi said the orchestration of a malicious campaign had nothing to do with the freedom of expression which had its limits. The federal minister said the law would take its course if any political group was involved in orchestrating the campaign against the judiciary.

As regards the recent internet outage, he said the internet disruption had nothing to do with politics. Instead, it was a technical issue since the work on the web monitoring system was underway.

The minister said that the elections on February 8 would decide who would run the country. Efforts were underway to ensure free and fair elections, he added.

He reiterated that the government’s commitment to extend financial, administrative, and security support to the Election Commission of Pakistan for in-time elections. Murtaza Solangi said that about 136 foreign journalists would cover the elections to be held on February 8, 2024.

He said the rupee depreciated massively against the dollar and the country was on the brink of default when the caretaker assumed power. However, the measures taken by the caretaker government for stabilizing the economy reaped dividends.

Political stability would return after the elections, the minister said in response to another query.
He said the administration was taking measures for the protection of the residents.

Earlier in the day, the authorities have officially decided to include the names of individuals leading anti-judiciary campaigns on social media in the Exit Control List (ECL) and the Stop List.

According to the details, the authorities decided to block the accounts found involved in the anti-judiciary campaigns on social media with the help of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

The officials stated that a National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) officer is also added to the JIT, while the other relevant institutions are busy in the identification process of the social media accounts involved in the campaign.