ISLAMABAD: Five senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders are scheduled to appear today (Monday) before a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) investigating an alleged smear campaign targeting state institutions on social media.
The JIT has summoned Hammad Azhar, Aliya Hamza, Sheikh Waqas Akram, Muhammad Kamran, and Farrukh Habib to appear in person at 11 a.m. at the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cybercrime Wing Headquarters in Islamabad.
According to notices issued on April 9 by JIT member and inquiry officer Mobin Zafar, the team possesses sufficient evidence to believe that the PTI leaders are either directly involved in or have knowledge of the matter under investigation.
“In the event of non-appearance, it will be presumed that you have nothing to present in your defense,” the notice stated, warning that failure to comply would constitute an offense punishable under the law. “Deliberate defiance of this order may result in criminal proceedings under Section 174 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), 1860.”
The JIT was formed by the PML-N-led federal government under Section 30 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), 2016. It is led by the Additional Director General of the FIA’s Cyber Crime Wing.
The investigation centers on the alleged use of social media to disseminate “highly intimidating content and tweets” aimed at inciting fear, unrest, and public discord against state institutions.
