Solangi rebuts ‘harassment of journalists’ reports, says JIT probing ‘anti-judiciary drive’ on merit

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Minister for Information, Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi on Sunday brushed aside the reports regarding harassment of the journalists, asserting the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was probing a “malicious campaign on social media” against the judges of the apex court “in accordance with the law.”

“Notices served on individuals identified during the investigation in accordance with the law,” Murtaza Solangi stated at a news conference.

Officials of the FIA, PTA and other relevant institutions accompanied the minister.

The minister said the JIT was formed on January 16 to investigate the ‘smear campaign’ against judges on the social media.

The JIT held first meeting on January 17 and the second on January 23 while the process of the investigation is still underway, he informed.

“So far, 600 social media accounts have been investigated and 100 inquiries registered”, he said. He said that notices were served on 110 individuals, including 32 journalists and 22 politicians.

The minister said that no FIR was lodged against anybody so far, nor anyone was arrested.

“This is not about criticism, it is related to character assassination [of the judiciary],” he said in response to another query.

To another query, he said the caretaker government could only take measures in accordance with its mandate. However, legislation on any issue was the job of the Parliament which not yet completed.

Solangi claimed the intensity of the ‘malicious campaign’ had decreased significantly since the formation of the JIT.

FIA Director General Ahmad Ishaque Jahangir said notices were served to the identified individuals to explain their position. “Not every notice end up in the FIR,” he pointed out.