Pakistan's cricket captain Babar Azam has moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) against a sessions court decision to allow the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to prosecute him under cyber-crime legislation. The FIA had been directed by the sessions court to pursue the case after the petition of a woman named Hamiza Mukhtar earlier this week. Azam, in his petition to the LHC, has included FIA's Cyber Crime Circle and the sessions court judge as respondents.
Earlier, Mukhtar had accused Azam and others of having sent her life-threatening messages via Whatsapp. In her petition to the sessions court, she alleged that they had threatened her with uploading fake images of her on social media if she did not agree to their demands. For its part, the FIA had informed the court that Azam did not appear beore its investigating officer: instead his elder brother had asked for more time for him to present his statement.
Azam's petition to the LHC highlights that his status as an international cricketer and captain. According to this petition, the order passed by the sessions court was an “unreasoned, non-speaking order.” It goes on to allege that Mukhtar's earlier petition was “the third complaint filed in an attempt to blackmail, harass and intimidate” the cricket captain. Moreover, it accuses Mukhtar of seeking to extort money from him. Arguing that the lower court violated the fundamental rights of Azam by not hearing him, his petition calls upon the LHC to set aside the order issued by the sessions court.
Earlier, Mukhtar had accused Azam and others of having sent her life-threatening messages via Whatsapp. In her petition to the sessions court, she alleged that they had threatened her with uploading fake images of her on social media if she did not agree to their demands. For its part, the FIA had informed the court that Azam did not appear beore its investigating officer: instead his elder brother had asked for more time for him to present his statement.
Azam's petition to the LHC highlights that his status as an international cricketer and captain. According to this petition, the order passed by the sessions court was an “unreasoned, non-speaking order.” It goes on to allege that Mukhtar's earlier petition was “the third complaint filed in an attempt to blackmail, harass and intimidate” the cricket captain. Moreover, it accuses Mukhtar of seeking to extort money from him. Arguing that the lower court violated the fundamental rights of Azam by not hearing him, his petition calls upon the LHC to set aside the order issued by the sessions court.