Women’s rights group urges repeal of criminal defamation laws after filmmaker’s conviction
Aurat March has issued a statement in support of filmmaker Jamshed Mahmood, widely known as Jami, following his conviction under Pakistan’s criminal defamation laws. In an Instagram post, Aurat March said, “Pakistan’s criminal defamation laws are a powerful tool to silence survivors of sexual violence and their allies.” The group added, “Jami’s conviction under these unjust laws is a reminder that the legal system does not support survivors, it punishes them.”
The current case began at the Lahooti Melo festival in 2019, where Jami read out a letter written by an alleged victim of sexual harassment targeted by a “music video and TVC director”. He later posted about it without naming anyone. However, he shared a screenshot from another victim’s account, which had Sohail Javed’s name in it.
Javed subsequently filed a PKR1 billion defamation suit against Jami, claiming that the public reading of the statement had damaged his reputation and caused him “mental torture.”
On July 8, a sessions court in Karachi found Jami guilty of criminal defamation and sentenced him to two years in prison. The verdict drew criticism from activists and the creative community, who argued that the conviction would discourage survivors and their supporters from speaking out. Both parties were previously ordered by the court to maintain the status quo and refrain from further public statements about the case. On Thursday, the Sindh High Court granted bail to Jami.
In 2015, Jami’s film Moor was selected as Pakistan’s official entry for the Academy Awards and bagged a screening at the 46th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
“It’s slightly abstract for a Pakistani audience. Critically, it’s one of the best, but financially, it’s probably the worst right now. The film was not for the masses, and we had 11AM screen timings. I mean, nobody would come on a weekday at 11AM. We were sidelined as an art film,” Jami told IANS after the film’s release.
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