A PTI supporter on Twitter, with only 184 followers, has been sentenced by a court to a minimum of three years imprisonment and a substantial fine as penalty for defaming state institutions. Sikander Zaman has a total of 8,513 tweets on his account, with the most recent tweet from 21 August 2022.
According to the verdict, Zaman is to be incarcerated in District Jail Faisalabad. He has been charged and found guilty under sections 500 and 505 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and section 24(c) of PECA 2016, among other charges. Unconfirmed reports state that Zaman has been sentenced to a total of six years imprisonment to be served concurrently, as well as a Rs 260,000 fine. The prison term could be increased if he fails to pay the fine.
File photo of Sikander Zaman.
Since the emergence of this report, Sikander Zaman's Twitter followers have grown to over 1,100 and continue to rise. Other supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have been protesting this development, calling it another episode in a 'long line of state oppression' carried out against their party leadership and supporters.
One 'aghast' Twitter user exclaimed why the state and establishment don't arrest "the holier than thou kings and their puppets raking the establishment over the coals from their pulpits". The user added that it was "easy to ruin the life of a person with no class connections".
It may be noted that the PTI is also gearing up for a 'Jail Bharo Tehreek' in which Imran Khan will give the call for his supporters to voluntarily surrender themselves for arrest by law enforcement.
Last year several PTI workers had tweeted against the army and Supreme Court after which they had to delete their tweets and publicly apologise for their behaviour. The angry outbursts came in the wake of Imran Khan's ouster from power after failing to secure a vote of confidence in the National Assembly.
