FIA gets five-day physical remand of journalist Asad Toor in anti-judiciary campaign case

ISLAMABAD – A district and session court in federal capital on Tuesday gave journalist Asad Ali Toor into custody of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on five-day remand in a case related to online anti-judiciary campaign.

Last month, the caretaker federal government had constituted a joint investigation team (JIT) to “ascertain facts behind a malicious social media campaign” which was ran after the top court’s decision to deprive PTI of its electoral symbol bat.

Last week, the investigation agency had grilled the independent journalist, who runs a Youtube Channel, for eight hours in the case after he was issued a call-up notice following the JIT’s report.

Reports said, the FIA took Toor into custody on Monday after he arrived its office to answer summon notices issued to him last week asking him to join investigation related to online campaign against the judiciary.

His lawyer Imaan Mazari said the team went to the FIA office after acquiring an order from the Islamabad High Court, which had barred the agency from harassing the journalist. Despite the order, the journalist was still in the premises of the FIA, she said.

Mazari revealed that an official later gave them a note, stating that Asad Toor has formally been arrested.

The FIA today produced the suspect before Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Shabbir and sought his physical remand for further interrogation. The plea was approved by the magistrate, who approved five-day remand of Toor.