LAHORE – A district and sessions court on Thursday extended the physical remand of journalist and vlogger Bilal Ghouri by two days in a case registered by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).
Ghouri was produced before the court after completing his initial three-day physical remand. Judicial Magistrate Malik Aman heard the case.
The NCCIA requested a further six-day physical remand of the journalist.
During the hearing, Ghouri’s counsel, Imran Shafiq, opposed the request, arguing that the authorities had already completed the required recoveries.
“If you have already taken his mobile phone and laptop into custody and have access to his social media accounts, what further remand do you need?” the lawyer questioned.
Shafiq also argued that the prosecution should first establish how the statement attributed to Ghouri was false.
Bilal Ghouri told the court that his mobile phone, laptop and all his accounts were already in the authorities’ possession. The investigating officer, however, said the accounts had two-factor verification enabled, making it difficult to log in.
Bilal Ghouri reportedly remarked that the only thing left for the authorities to take was “my tongue from my mouth.”
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court reserved its decision on the request for further physical remand.
The court later announced its reserved order and extended Ghouri’s physical remand by two days.
It directed the authorities to produce him before the court again on September 12.
