Islamabad-based American Blogger Cynthia Ritchie’s stay in Pakistan has been cleared by the government as the Interior Ministry has said that she won’t be deported.
“Cynthia Ritchie can stay in the country till August 31,” the Interior Ministry said in an order, a written copy of which was submitted to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) during the hearing of the blogger’s case on Friday.
“I’m surprised that the petitioner is not present in the court today,” Ritchie said while speaking to the media outside the court. “In America, it’s compulsory for both the petitioner and defendant to be present in court for every hearing.”
The blogger said that she was happy that the ministry had passed a decision in her favour, which comes a month after an additional district and sessions judge on June 15 directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to file a case against her for passing defamatory remarks about the late former prime minister (PM) Benazir Bhutto on social media.
Ritchie had approached the IHC, challenging the ruling, while naming the justice of peace — lower court judge –, the FIA and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) as respondents in the case.
READ: Cynthia Ritchie denies working for intelligence; adds to allegations, drags PML-N through the mud
Former Punjab governor and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Latif Khosa has, however, said that he was not satisfied with the decision and will be challenging it. “This is an attempt to mislead the court by the secretary of the Interior Ministry,” he remarked.
The interior ministry’s report has tried to dismiss PPP’s plea as it says that Ritchie has a visa and she’s not involved in any criminal activities, Khosa said. “We will prove the reality behind Ritchie and make sure that she’s deported.”
He added that his party had lost faith in the federal government which was why they had approached the court.
The tussle between the blogger and the PPP continues ever since Ritchie had made derogatory remarks against the former and current leadership of the PPP. She had later also accused PPP stalwart and former interior minister Rehman Malik of raping her, and former PM Yousaf Raza Gilani of manhandling her in 2011.
The accusations have been denied by the PPP leaders.
