- Murad produced in the court upon completion of two-day physical remand
- Court also disposes of application after withdrawal of a plea challenging physical remand
ISLAMABAD: A local in Islamabad on Friday granted post-arrest bail to journalist Waheed Murad against the surety bonds of Rs20,000 following his two-day physical remand in a case registered under cybercrime laws for allegedly posting “intimidating content” online.
Judicial Magistrate Abbas Shah heard the case while FIA officials produced the journalist in the court upon completion of two-day physical remand.
Judge Abbas Shah approved Murad’s bail against surety bonds of Rs50,000, after the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) failed to present substantial evidence in the case.
During the proceedings, Judge Abbas Shah questioned the FIA officials on what material had been recovered from journalist Waheed Murad. The journalist’s legal counsels – Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha, argued that their client had merely quoted statements made by Baloch leader Akhtar Mengal, which were already in the public domain.
The FIA contended that the post referred to alleged Baloch genocide and was therefore under investigation.
The court then granted Murad’s post-arrest bail in the sum of Rs50,000 surety.
However, the bail bonds were lowered to Rs20,000 on the request of Murad’s lawyers, and he was released after the surety bonds were submitted to the court.
Meanwhile, the court disposed of the application after the withdrawal of the application challenging the remand in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Afzal Majuka.
The Islamabad-based journalist was arrested on March 26 at 2am after being allegedly abducted from his residence and later handed over to the FIA.
During a previous court appearance, Waheed Murad told the judge that police forcibly entered his home, took him away, and assaulted his mother-in-law.
His lawyers – Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha, revealed that Waheed Murad had already filed a petition for protection from illegal detention before his arrest.
The FIA had sought a 10-day physical remand, alleging that Murad’s social media posts supported the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). However, the judge only granted a two-day remand at the time.
Following his alleged abduction, Murad’s mother-in-law, Abida Nawaz, had filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against his disappearance on March 26.
She alleged that at 2 am on March 26, armed men in black uniforms forcibly took Murad away from his house in Sector G-8 while also misbehaving with her.
The state, the defence ministry, the Islamabad police chief and the Karachi Company police’s station house officer were listed as respondents in the case.
The petition urged the IHC to direct the respondents to “immediately trace and produce” Murad before the court.
It pleaded that the court also order the respondents to “identify and investigate those responsible, directly or indirectly, for abducting and illegally detaining” the journalist, as well as to disclose information on any cases filed against him.
