Man sentenced to five years in prison for 'anti-army' tweets

An additional district and sessions court on Thursday sentenced a man to five years imprisonment for 'anti-army' tweets following the Pakistan Army's Lasbela helicopter crash in August last year. The court also imposed a fine of Rs250,000. The individual was convicted for his involvement in a social media campaign perpetuating propaganda against the Pakistan Army and the martyrs of the Lasbela helicopter incident. The charges against him stated that he had shared derogatory tweets regarding the martyrs. An FIR was registered under section 20, 24C PECA 2016 R/W Sec 500 & 505 on 18 August, 2022. Read Shujaat says anti-army propaganda intolerable According to the court's judgement, the accused "intended to spread panic" in society through his social media posts against the Pakistan Army related to the helicopter incident. The army had strongly condemned the “hurtful and derogatory” comments on social media following the crash. Some of the comments went to the extent of wishing for the presence of top military leadership on the missing chopper. “The regretful social media campaign after the unfortunate heli(copter) crash on August 1 has caused deep anguish and distress among Shuhada families and rank and file of the armed forces,” an official Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement read. ISPR explained that they were compelled to issue a statement after a "certain group of people" launched a hateful campaign against the army and its leadership. “This should not happen. We must reject those elements,” the chief military spokesperson told a private news channel. “This is unacceptable and it should be condemned at all levels,” he insisted. Read more Propaganda against copter crash ‘disgusting’ Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters accused the military leadership of being behind the ouster of the PTI government as the campaign against the senior military leadership continued on social media. Helicopter crash In August, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reported a Pakistan Army aviation helicopter -- which was on flood relief operations in Balochistan’s Lasbela -- as missing after it lost contact with air traffic control (ATC). The military mounted a search operation that was stymied by the difficult mountainous terrain of Lasbela district. The wreckage of the military helicopter was found in a coastal district of Balochistan and none of the six officers and crew on board had survived the crash. Commander 12 Corps Lieutenant General Sarfaraz Ali, Major General Amjad Hanif, Brigadier Muhammad Khalid, Major Saeed Ahmed, Major M Talha Manan and Naik Mudassar Fayyaz were martyred when the Mi-17 helicopter crashed due to bad weather.

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