In a cosy Persian restaurant in an Islamabad strip mall, a young man approached Asad Ali Toor for a selfie. ‘I watch your show, I admire your work, thank you for what you do,’ he told the journalist.
Toor’s real crime is speaking truth to power
Days later, Toor was in jail, charged with ‘cyber crimes’ after being interrogated by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). During two separate days of questioning, he was held incommunicado, after his lawyers were pushed away from the door as he was bustled, handcuffed, into the FIA’s building.
After being kept overnight on Monday, he was arrested for using his vast social media presence to ‘spread panic, fear and insecurity’ through the military-backed government and the public.
His objective, according to the FIA charge sheet seen by The Spectator, was to ‘coerce, intimidate and incitement [sic] to violence against the civil servants/government officials and state institutions’.
On Tuesday, a court remanded Toor in custody for five days.
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