Friday, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) sent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Qasim Suri a follow-up notice over a complaint Saleem Safi, a journalist, had made against him for defaming his deceased parents online.
On November 29, Qasim made disparaging statements about Saleem Safi’s parents on his official Twitter account, which prompted the latter to report the incident to the FIA Cyber Crime Wing.
The FIA ordered the former deputy speaker of the National Assembly to attend the hearing in person on January 18. The agency had summoned the PTI leader on January 11, however, he did not attend the hearing.
On January 2, the FIA cyber crime wing issued a notice to the PTI leader, ordering him to appear on January 11, but he did not appear on the date.
The PTI leader was sent another notice by the FIA on Friday, instructing him to show up in person on January 18 at 11 am. In the event that he does not show up, the agency has threatened to take unilateral action.
It should be remembered that a similar lawsuit was brought by PTI politician Murad Saeed against journalist Mohsin Baig during the PTI administration, accusing him of making disparaging remarks about him in his book.
The FIA did not issue a notice; instead, they conducted a home raid and picked up Mohsin the same day. Murad Saeed was not mentioned in the book’s objected-to page, hence the court decided to clear Mohsin.