ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and spokesperson Raoof Hasan were directed to participate in a probe over a “controversial” social media post on party founder Imran Khan’s verified X account by the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday.
Nonetheless, it prevented the PTI leadership from being harassed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) about the matter.
Both PTI leaders appeared before an investigative team as directed by the court.
Barrister Gohar, Raoof Hasan, and PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub received letters from the FIA announcing the start of an investigation into the “misuse” of Mr. Khan’s verified X account, which was used to share “highly obnoxious and inciting content against state institutions.”
The aforementioned tweet, which was published on May 26, featured a montage in which Mr. Khan is quoted as advising the country to “study the Hamoodur Rahman Commission report” in order to determine “who was the true traitor, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman or General Yahya Khan”.
In court, attorney Niazullah Khan Niazi argued on behalf of Barrister Gohar and Raoof Hassan that the position was meant to “encourage national dialogue” and help the nation resolve its current issue.
In the matter, he claimed, Imran Khan and others were accused of instigating armed forces troops to mutiny, and the FIA deputy director was a complainant. The lawyer claimed that Mr. Khan had been in prison for more than ten months and that the PTI founder’s X account had nothing to do with the leadership.
In addition to asking the court to throw aside the notifications, Advocate Niazi asked it to stop the FIA from harassing the PTI leadership.
The petitioners were instructed to “appear before the concerned authority on the given date and time and shall record their statements” by Judge Mohsin Akhtar Kayani.
“No adverse action shall be taken against the petitioners until the next date of hearing,” the court ordered the FIA to refrain from harassing the petitioners.
The next hearing was postponed until June 25.
FIA questions PTI officials
Presenting before an FIA team headed by investigating officer Muneeb Zafar were Barrister Gohar and Raoof Hassan. The PTI leaders were accompanied by advocate Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry. But in spite of Mr. Hassan’s pleas, the attorney was not allowed to take part in the Q&A session.
Dawn was informed by sources that the FIA had made inquiries regarding social media accounts, specifically Imran Khan’s X account.
According to the sources, Barrister Gohar stayed with the FIA team for an hour while Mr. Hassan was interrogated for thirty-five minutes.
Mr. Hassan was questioned by the investigative team on Jibran Ilyas, the leader of the PTI social media team, and Azhar Mishwani, Imran Khan’s main point of contact.
The sources claim that Mr. Hassan did not give much information about them. Barrister Gohar did, however, affirm that they are in charge of managing PTI and Imran Khan-related social media posts.
Mr. Hassan told the investigators he doesn’t use social media and that his activity is restricted to print and electronic media. Mr. Hassan stated that he would not support such content and that the army chief’s photo in the contentious video was uploaded without his knowledge or consent.
