On Friday, a Rawalpindi court granted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) a seven -day pre -trial detention by engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza Jehlami, a controversial religious scholar, in a high -level blasphemy case.
According to Express News, the main civilian judge Waqar Hussain Gondal granted pre -trial detention after the FIA produced the accused under strict security in the courts of the Rawalpindi district.
The court ordered the FIA to finish the interrogation and to present the accused again on September 19. Following the court’s order, the FIA team left with the accused to continue his investigation.
Mirza was initially detained last month by Jhelum police under article 3 of the maintenance of public order (MPO). He was then transferred to prison before being returned to the FIA after the registration of a blasphemy case.
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The FIR, filed with the Jhelum City police station, alleges that a video circulating online – from the Mirza Youtube channel – contains blasphemous remarks on the Holy Prophet (PSL) and a misinterpretation of Surah Al -Nisa. The complainant claims that the video is offensive and in violation of the strict laws of the blasphemy of Pakistan.
The case includes accusations under article 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which obliges the death penalty to have paraded the name of the Prophet (PSL), and article 11 of the law on the prevention of electronic crimes (PECA) 2016, which targets the content inciting sectarian or interfaith hatred.
Article 295-C of the PPC stipulates that “anyone who is spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by imputation, innuendo or innuendo, directly or indirectly, supports the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace with him) will be punished with death and will be responsible for fine”.
Article 11 of the PECA concerns the preparation and propagation of all information through any vertical which motivates interconfessional, sectarian or racial hatred must be punished with a prison sentence for a period up to seven years and or also a fine.
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Mirza is a well -known online figure with more than three million YouTube subscribers. He also headed the Koran-Sunnat research academy in Jhelum, which has now been sealed by the local authorities. No official reason has been provided for the move.
This is not the first time that Mirza has faced such allegations. In May 2020, when he was accused of allegations of making derogatory comments on other religious scholars. He was then released on bail.
He was accused of blasphemy in 2023 on comments on the Holy Prophet (PSL) and his position perceived on the Ahmadi community. These accusations were finally lowered.
Blasphemy remains one of the most sensitive and controversial questions in Pakistan, human rights organizations regularly urging the government to prevent the exploitation of these laws for personal or political ends.
