Nawaz Sharif, Maryam booked for 'cyber-terrorism' in terror-state Pak for slamming Army

Pakistan Police in Lahore on Monday filed an FIR against the country's former PM Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and other top leaders of the Opposition PML-N party for allegedly conspiring against the institutions of the army and judiciary, and inciting people against them.

The Lahore police registered the FIR on the complaint of a person, citing Sharif's two recent speeches made through a video link from London, in which the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo made blistering remarks targeting the politically powerful Pakistan Army.

Nawaz Sharif, daughter face sedition charges

Sharif - who left for London late last year after securing bail for medical treatment in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case and the Al Azizia case - has been targeting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led (PTI) government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan as well as many state institutions, including the judiciary and the military.

He served as Pakistan's Prime Minister three times, first removed by a President in 1993, then in a military coup by then Pak Army chief Pervez Musharraf in 1999. A court in 2017 ousted him from power over corruption allegations. Imran Khan, a former cricketer, came to power in 2018.

The case was registered under sections 10 (cyber-terrorism), 120-A (definition of criminal conspiracy), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 121-A (conspiracy to wage war against Pakistan), 123-A (condemning the creation of the country and advocating the abolishment of its sovereignty), 124-A (sedition) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (2016) and the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).  

According to the FIR, instead of availing medical treatment in London, Sharif launched a planned conspiracy to defame Pakistan and its institutions' army and judiciary. Through his speeches, he is trying to incite the public against the state institutions. It alleged that Sharif through his speeches supported the policies of India so that Pakistan remains on the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) grey list and gets isolated in the world being a rogue state'.

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'We will arrest the PML-N leaders'

The Punjab government has announced taking action against the PML-N leadership in the light of the FIR. "We will arrest the PML-N leaders nominated in this FIR, Punjab information minister Fayyazul Hasan Chohan said. He said no criticism of the army and intelligence agencies is allowed under the Constitution.

The FIR also names PML-N leaders Maryam, Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Sanaullah, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Pervaiz Rashid, Marriyum Aurangzeb and others who attended the party's Central Executive Committee and Central Working Committee meetings.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani court in Islamabad on Monday rejected a plea seeking a ban on the broadcast of the speeches made by Nawaz Sharif against the Pakistan Army, saying courts should not be unnecessarily dragged to decide so such matters. Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah in his four-page order said the petitioner could not satisfy the court regarding which of his rights were being affected by the matter.

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(With agency inputs)