Suspect 'involved in smear campaign' against CJP Isa arrested

ISLAMABAD: Law enforcement agencies on Thursday arrested the suspect involved in an alleged malicious and threatening social media campaign against Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, ARY News reported.

According to sources, the suspect, identified as Abdul Wasay, misused the platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) to malign and issue death threats to the Chief Justice.

Abdul Wasay is alleged to have played a significant role in orchestrating a social media campaign against Justice Qazi Faez Isa, say sources.

The investigation is underway to identify more individuals involved in the social media campaign against the Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, they say.

In January, the caretaker government on Tuesday constituted a joint investigation team (JIT) to investigate a campaign reportedly launched against the judiciary following the Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict that upheld the Dec 22 decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) depriving PTI of its iconic symbol — ‘bat’,.

According to a notification – a copy of which is available with ARY News, the federal government constituted a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in terms of Section 30 of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.

Additional Director General (Cyber Crime Wing) FIA would be the Convener of the committee, which comprises representatives of Intelligence Bureau (IB), Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and DIG Islamabad Police.

The JIT would ascertain facts behind “malicious social media campaign” attempting to malign the image of Judges of the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan.

It has been also directed to identify and bring the culprits to book in accordance with relevant laws and cause presentation of challans in the concerned courts. The team would also be authorised to recommend measures for prevention against occurrence of such incidents in future.

The caretaker government has directed the JIT to submit a “preliminary report” to Ministry of Interior within 15 days.

The development came after CJP Qazi Faez Isa-led three-member bench announced the verdict, dealing a huge blow to Imran Khan-led PTI’s hopes of retaining its symbol.

As a result, the PTI candidates will now be contesting the elections independently with different electoral symbols while the party no longer has the right to reserved seats for women and minorities.