US blogger Cynthia Richie moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday in a bid to stop the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from registering a case against her.
In her petition, Ritchie had said that the FIA should be stopped from filing a case against her as she had not committed any crime.
On Monday, the Additional District and Sessions Judge (ASJ) Jahangir Awan had directed the FIA to register a case against Ritchie, who has levelled harassment allegations against the PPP leadership after a public spat with the party.
The petitioner, PPP Islamabad President Shakeel Abbasi on Saturday had filed a petition stating that Ritchie had made baseless allegations against ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto and a case should be registered against her.
In its two-page verdict, the court had said the US blogger had not denied that she created this tweet on social media.
Ritchie accuses PPP leadership of ‘harassment’ and ‘manhandling’
In a video broadcast live on Facebook, Ritchie had alleged that one of the party’s senior members had raped her while two others had “manhandled” her at a separate occasion.
She had stated that the incidents occurred in 2011 when the PPP was in power, and when the individual she accused of rape had been a senior minister.
Ritchie had further alleged that two other senior party leaders – a federal minister and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani (who has publicly responded to the allegation) – had “physically manhandled” her when the latter “was staying the President House”.
In a subsequent textual post on Facebook, Ritchie had said that the alleged rape incident had occurred at the accused’s residence in Islamabad’s Minister’s Enclave in 2011, “around the [time of the] OBL (Osama Bin Laden) incident”.
“I thought it was a meeting about my visa but I was given flowers [and] a drugged drink,” she claimed, adding that she had “kept quiet” about the incident because “who in the [ruling government] would help me against the [accused minister]?”
However, she said she did tell someone about the incident at the US Embassy in 2011, but “due to ‘fluid’ situation and ‘complex’ relations” between Washington and Islamabad, she said the response “was less than adequate”.
Earlier, the PPP had requested the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber crime Wing to take immediate action and initiate proceedings against Cynthia D. Ritchie for “extremely derogatory and slanderous remarks” regarding Benazir Bhutto.
“Through this application, it is brought to your notice that a woman, who goes by the name of Cynthia D Ritchie on Twitter has passed extremely derogatory and slanderous remarks about Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, through her Twitter handle/account,” the letter dated May 28 read.
“Her remarks being false, untrue, defaming and slanderous as they are, have caused immense pain and agony to the millions across Pakistan who revere and hold Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in high esteem,” it said.
“Your office is requested to take immediate action and initiate proceedings against this woman as prescribed by the law and under your mandate. A photocopy of the tweet, a true portrayal of her sick and disgusting mind is attached with the application,” the letter added.
