ISLAMABAD: The government has declared YouTuber Adil Farooq Raja, who is also a former Pakistan Army officer and currently resides in the United Kingdom, a proscribed person under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
“The federal government has reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Adil Farooq Raja has been demonstrating his sustained involvement in activities posing a serious threat to the security, integrity, and public order of Pakistan.
“He has consistently misused online platforms to promote, facilitate, and amplify anti-state narratives and propaganda associated with proscribed terrorist organisations, thereby acting in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty and defence of Pakistan,” read the notification declaring the YouTuber a proscribed person.
The notification was issued by the interior ministry and is dated December 27.
It said, “In exercise of powers conferred by Section 11ee of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, the federal government is pleased to direct to list Mr Adil Farooq Raja in the Fourth Schedule to the said Act as a proscribed person for the purposes of the said Act.”
The notification was issued after the federal cabinet approved the summary for Raja‘s proscription, the summary for which had been submitted by the interior ministry on December 23.
The development came roughly 20 days after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi handed over the extradition papers for Raja — who has positioned himself as a whistleblower — former special assistant to the prime minister Shahzad Akbar to UK High Commissioner Jane Marriott.
Prior to that, Naqvi had announced a crackdown on those involved in fake news, declaring that the government would repatriate from the UK YouTubers involved in this activity or the targeting of state institutions.
Raja had reacted to the development in a post on X, saying: “They may call the British High Commissioner to complain, but such a complaint is itself unlawful under UK statutes, as we have committed no wrongdoing.”
On December 10, Raja had also been ordered to pay £350,000 in damages and legal costs after a London high court ruled he had defamed a former intelligence officer with unfounded allegations of corruption and electoral interference.
In 2023, Raja was handed 14 years of jail sentence following his Field General Court Martial for “inciting sedition” and stripped of his military rank.
While the military’s media affairs wing did not directly link the convictions to the events of May 9, Raja and Mehdi had been accused by the Islamabad police of playing a significant role in fomenting rebellion and inciting attacks on military installations during widespread protests that followed PTI leader Imran Khan’s arrest on that day.
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