Concerns rise for journalistic freedoms in Pakistan after reporters summoned for defaming judiciary

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency, the country’s main agency for investigating federal crimes, summoned 47 senior journalists, rights activists, and YouTubers to appear before its cybercrimes wing in Karachi this week for spreading propaganda on social media against Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and the Supreme Court judiciary.

All those summoned are accused of posting insulting and misleading content on social media websites against the chief justice and the judiciary.

On Jan. 16, Pakistan's caretaker government established a six-member joint investigation team to establish the facts behind hateful social media campaigns against the judges.

The team, comprising senior officials from the Inter-Services Intelligence, the Intelligence Bureau, and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, was tasked with identifying lawbreakers and bringing them to justice, presenting official documents in court, and recommending measures to prevent such incidents in the future.

According to sources, among those summoned were senior journalists Samar Abbas, Cyril Almeida, Saqib Bashir, Arif Hameed Bhatti, Paras Jahanzaib, Matiullah Jan, Orya Maqbool Jan, Faheem Malik, Shaheen Sehbai, and Sabir Shakir, and leading civil rights activists Mohammad Jibran Nasir and Sara Taseer.

A ballot symbol comes to represent disenfranchisement

The issue began after a three-judge Supreme Court panel, led by Isa, decided on Jan. 13 to uphold the withdrawal of the cricket bat as the election symbol of the Tehreek-e-Insaf political party. The cricket bat is the traditional electoral symbol of the party, which is led by former international cricketer and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who in August was jailed for three years and disqualified from competing in elections. 

Pakistan's general elections are scheduled for Feb. 8.

The decision to disallow the cricket bat symbol garnered significant criticism on social media. Pakistan has a relatively high illiteracy rate, especially in rural areas, and electoral symbols are important on ballot papers to enable voters to identify parties.

The Tehreek-e-Insaf party, the country's most popular and former ruling party, claimed that the nation's most powerful establishment is employing a variety of strategies to prevent it from participating in the elections.

The US State Department recently expressed its concerns over the restrictions on freedom of expression in Pakistan.

“We are concerned about reports of restrictions on freedom of expression, freedom of political association, and restrictions on the press in Pakistan,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said last week.

“We have confidence that journalists play an important role in covering fair and transparent elections. We believe that such [restrictions] contradict Pakistan's claims of holding fair and transparent elections.” 

Meanwhile, the Press Association of the Supreme Court in Pakistan and the Islamabad High Court Journalists Association jointly condemned the issuing of Federal Investigation Agency directives to journalists.

The two organizations held a meeting on Saturday evening to discuss their concerns and issued a joint declaration afterward.

“The progression of democracy requires both a press that is autonomous and an independent judiciary," the statement said. "Both groups urged that the notices be withdrawn and that journalists not be harassed by authorities. If this was not possible, all of the journalistic organizations would have to decide on a joint course of action.”

After the joint statement, Isa acted of his own accord and constituted a three-member bench to hear cases related to journalists' safety from Monday. He also encouraged the presidents of both associations to present their issues to him in his chambers.

"I don't care if anyone makes fun of me, but making fun of the judiciary hurts the country and the nation and serves as a reminder of the constitutional restrictions on criticism," Isa said on Monday.

During the special bench proceedings on Tuesday, the Pakistani attorney general assured the Supreme Court that “authorities will not take any action regarding notices sent to journalists for the accusations that they were engaged in a hateful campaign against the supreme judiciary." 

The court adjourned the hearing until the first week of March. However, it did not suspend the FIA proceedings against the journalists. 

“Article 19 of the [Pakistani] constitution talks about the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press. We have grave concerns about the safety of working journalists,” Press Association President Mian Aqeel Afzal told The Media Line. 

“We are also apprehensive that more working journalists may be harassed in the guise of such actions. … While criticizing court rulings is a particular matter, we need to keep in mind the distinction between criticism and abuse.”

Nighat Dad, executive director of Digital Rights Foundation, an organization working for digital rights, told The Media Line: “This appears to be excessive and indiscriminate legal action. However, issuing vague notices to numerous journalists, bloggers, and political activists without providing the legal basis for their alleged wrongdoing will not only be used to punish them but will also create widespread fear and curb freedom of expression.” 

"A living example of state repression"

Freedom Network, an Islamabad-based media development and civil liberties organization, recently published a report on the dangers to journalists in Pakistan. 

“Journalists and media assistants faced some 125 cases of different natures of threats across Pakistan in 2023. Two journalists were murdered, 17 cases related to assaults resulted in injuries, and 20 legal cases were also reported and documented,” the network's “Threat Data Analysis” report said. 

“State-threat actors were suspected to have been involved in most of these threat cases.”

Saqib Bashir, an Islamabad-based senior journalist, was among those called in by the FIA.

“Despite constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and expression, Pakistan's media landscape is marred by censorship, intimidation, and violence targeting journalists and activists,” Bashir told The Media Line. 

“The court rulings are public property, and every person has the legal right to criticize them in the context of prejudice, either positively or negatively, but we ought to critique court rulings from an ethical perspective as well,” he said.

Khalid Jamil, an Islamabad-based media rights defender and analyst, told The Media Line normally the person who was defamed would be the plaintiff in a court case.

"But here the matter is reversed. According to the FIA notice, the state itself has become the plaintiff, instead of those dignitaries who have been allegedly defamed, including the honorable chief justice of Pakistan,” Jamil said.

“This is a living example of state repression that seeks to stifle freedom of expression through such tactics. … To prevent such awful events, all media outlets should implement a system of self-advisory accountability.

“With clear guidelines in place, media outlets can resist external pressures, including state repression or attempts at censorship. A strong culture of self-accountability can empower journalists to uphold their principles and resist undue influence from powerful interests,” he said.