By our correspondent
LAHORE: A district court has granted pre-arrest bail to journalists Shakir Mehmood Awan and Syed Zeeshan Aziz amid ongoing investigations by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Defence-A police. The cases against them involve allegations of inciting public unrest through tweets that falsely depicted a fabricated incident as a genuine rape case at a local college.
On Thursday, the journalists appeared before Additional District and Sessions Judge Suleman Ghuman, accompanied by fellow journalists and their legal counsel, Advocate Azhar Siddique. During the proceedings, the defence counsel questioned the validity of the FIA and police actions, particularly highlighting the registration of two First Information Reports (FIRs) for the same incident. The counsel argued that implicating journalists in politically motivated cases while they performed their professional duties was both unjust and reflective of governmental instability.
The college’s security guard and CCTV footage are currently in police custody for further investigation, with the institution actively engaging with students and staff to ascertain the facts. The complaint alleges that the accused individuals aimed to defame the institution and incite public violence through false propaganda. It further claims that their social media posts glorified acts of terrorism and created fear and insecurity among the public.
