ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad local court on Saturday rejected the National Counter Terrorism and Crime Investigation Agency’s (NCCIA) request for the physical remand of senior journalist Fakhar Rehman, ordering instead that he be sent to jail on judicial remand.
صحافی فخر الرحمان کا 30 دن کا جسمانی ریمانڈ این سی سی آئی اے نے مانگا تھا ڈیوٹی مجسٹریٹ نے استدعا مسترد کر دی اب ضمانت کا پراسس ہو گا بیرسٹر میاں علی اشفاق کی ٹیم ل بیرسٹر احد کھوکھر اور محمد فیاض کندوال نے کیس کی پیروی کی pic.twitter.com/46Eir98xGP
— Saqib Bashir (@saqibbashir156) April 25, 2026
The 61-year-old journalist, who also works for the Turkish news channel A Haber, was produced before the court of Duty Magistrate Yasir Mahmood following his arrest by the NCCIA from his residence on Friday. The arrest stemmed from a PECA case registered over a controversial post on X (formerly Twitter) in which Rehman had shared a video of Maulana Ali Gardizi reacting to an address by the Chief of Defence Forces.
During the hearing, the NCCIA had argued for physical remand, claiming that while Rehman admitted the tweet was his, he refused to provide the password to his mobile device to verify the content. However, the court dismissed this request, accepting the defence’s argument that the journalist had merely reported news and that the tweet in question had been deleted long before the FIR was registered.
Barrister Ahad Khokhar, representing Rehman, emphasized that the journalist had not authored the content personally but had shared it in his professional capacity. “No direct connection to any specific offense against the accused has been established in the FIR,” Khokhar argued, adding that false propaganda linking Rehman to a non-existent account named “Islamabad Post” was being circulated on social media.
The court also took note of Rehman’s deteriorating health. His family stated that he suffers from a severe liver ailment, with his liver functioning at only 30 per cent, and recounted a life-threatening medical emergency five years ago.
Following the rejection of the physical remand plea, the magistrate ordered that Fakhar Rehman be produced before the court on the next hearing date while remaining in judicial custody. Rehman, who has over 35 years of experience reporting for the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, did not make any statement on his own behalf during the proceedings.
