UK riots: Lahore court discharges suspect in disinformation case
- By Web Desk -
- Aug 26, 2024
LAHORE: The suspect Farhan Asif, accused of spreading disinformation that leads to riots in the United Kingdom (UK), has been discharged by a local court in Lahore, ARY News reported on Monday.
The case was heard in Lahore’s District Kachari, where the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) investigating officer stated that nothing incriminating was found during the investigation, and no recovery was made from the accused.
Farhan Asif was accused of sharing photos of stabbings in the UK on Twitter, falsely attributing the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker who had illegally entered the UK in 2023 in a web article.
However, the investigating officer revealed that the news had already online by others before Farhan Asif reposted it. Farhan Asif also informed the court that he deleted the post after six hours.
Judicial Magistrate Hamudul Rahman Nasir accepted the request to discharge Farhan Asif from the case based on the investigation’s findings.
This decision comes after the court had earlier extended the physical remand of Farhan Asif for further investigation.
It is worth mentioning here that the Punjab police on August 20, arrested a citizen from the Defense area of Lahore in connection with a disinformation which led to fuel protests and riots in the UK.
DIG Operations Faisal Kamran stated that the accused, identified as Farhan Asif, works for a news platform in Pakistan, was apprehended for allegedly spreading false information regarding the identity of the killer of three young girls in Britain.
This misinformation led to a series of violent protests across several UK cities, with anti-immigration and anti-Muslim sentiments intensifying.
The unrest began after the tragic deaths of three girls at a dance school in Southport, located in the North-West region of Great Britain.
On July 29, rumors spread on social media claiming that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker who had illegally entered the UK in 2023. This fake news sparked widespread violence, resulting in several fatalities.