NCCIA gets custody of digital journalist Sohrab Barkat held for 'spreading misinformation'

A judicial magistrate has approved four-day physical remand of digital media journalist Sohrab Barkat in the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency's (NCCIA) custody in a case pertaining to spreading false information about state institutions.

NCCIA officials brought Barkat to the district courts and requested a 30-day remand. The investigation officer told the court that the agency needed the journalist’s physical custody to get access to his social media accounts and interrogate him.

Barkat’s lawyer opposed the request, arguing that his client had been “illegally offloaded and arrested” at Islamabad airport while travelling abroad to attend a United Nations conference.

The counsel said the FIA had earlier informed a court in Islamabad that no case was registered against the journalist, but he was later booked in the cybercrime FIR.

He contended that the remarks in question were made by PTI activist Sanam Javed, who appeared as a guest on Barkat’s digital media programme.

In his written order, the magistrate stated that the record showed Barkat was nominated in an FIR filed on Aug 5 and that an inquiry had already been authorised. The court also noted that he had been declared a proclaimed offender after warrants were obtained.