Pak court directs FIA to register case against American blogger Cynthia Ritchie

A Pakistani court here has directed the country's top investigation agency to register a case against Pakistan-based American blogger Cynthia D Ritchie for maligning late former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on social media.

The Islamabad's District and Session Court's direction to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) came after the city police last week refused to register a case against Ritchie, saying it was an issue of cybercrime and only the FIA was authorised to deal with it.

"The FIA is directed to proceed in accordance with the law, conduct an inquiry and if there is sufficient material, register an FIR," Judge Jahangir Awan said.

Petitioner Waqas Ahmad Abbasi submitted a written application last week against Ritchie, accusing her of maligning Bhutto on social media. But the Islamabad Police said the case needed to be investigated by the FIA.

Later, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Islamabad President Shakeel Abbasi approached the FIA with a complaint against Ritchie for making a slanderous tweet against Bhutto but it refused to take action.

The FIA on June 9 told the court that the complainant was not the aggrieved party under the law and not entitled to file the case.

Ritchie alleged that Bhutto condoned rape culture in Pakistan, according to Pakistani media reports.

The FIA, in its written response to the court, argued that according to its rules, only the aggrieved party - the targeted victim or their guardian - could lodge such a complaint with the agency.

On the other hand, the counsel for the petitioner argued that due to the nature of tweets, the PPP was the aggrieved party.

To this, the court asked why the heirs of late Bhutto were not lodging a complaint.

The court after hearing arguments had reserved the judgment on June 13 which it announced, ordering FIA to register the case and proceed as per law against Ritchie.

Ritchi also levelled allegations of harassment against the senior leaders of the PPP, including former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and ex-interior minister Rehman Malik.

On June 10, Gilani sent a legal notice to Ritchie, seeking Rs100 million in damages and an apology.

Separately, Malik also said he will serve Ritchie a legal notice after she accused that he raped her in 2011.

Ritchie has been living in Pakistan for more than a decade. She introduced herself as an adventure tourist who fell in love with Pakistan.