Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry has defended the arrest of journalist Bilal Ghauri, saying that journalists should not be exempt from arrest when they violate the law, calling some “habitual offenders”.
Speaking on a private news show, Chaudhry defended the arrest by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) and said that the law did not require authorities to issue prior notices before taking action in every case.
“Tell me this, why should these journalists not be arrested? Do they not know the proper protocol,” Chaudhry asked, adding that individuals who used journalism to score points or raise their personal profile would face direct legal action.
He argued that legal provisions were designed to address repeated offences, stressing that habitual offenders could exploit the notice process.
“For habitual offenders who know that first a notice arrives, then a second one, then a third, and who already plan how to exploit the law when a notice arrives, the law provides complete clarity that strict action must be taken against them,” he remarked.
Chaudhry also said that direct arrests sent a message that Pakistan was governed by established legal procedures.
“Pakistan is governed by law, and it is a state with legal procedures in place. It cannot be that whenever you feel like it, you say whatever you want without accountability,” he stated.
During the show, journalist and anchorperson Shahzaib Khanzada questioned the legality of arresting a journalist without prior notice, interrogation or summons.
He referred to rulings by the High Court and Supreme Court which, he pointed out, established that a person could not be deprived of liberty without a crime being proved.
The exchange came after Bilal Ghauri was arrested over a vlog concerning the appointment process of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) national coordinator.
The NCCIA registered a case against Ghauri on September 6 under Sections 20 and 26-A of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), alleging that he uploaded false and misleading narratives about the appointment.
An Islamabad judicial magistrate on Monday granted the NCCIA three days physical remand of Ghauri.
Shafiq told the court that the vlog was based on an official notification, while Ghauri said his remarks concerned institutional performance rather than an individual.
The court subsequently granted the three-day remand.
