KARACHI: A judicial magistrate issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for social media influencer Sahil Adeem in a defamation case on Friday.
Judicial Magistrate (South) Sher Muhammad approved the warrant after investigating officer Waqar Ahmed submitted a final charge sheet against Adeem.
He faces charges under Sections 153 (promoting enmity between groups), 505(1)(c) (intent to incite), and 500 (defamation) of the Pakistan Penal Code, along with Section 512 (record of evidence in the absence of the accused) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The magistrate instructed the investigating officer to arrest Adeem and present him in court on September 24.
State prosecutor Abdul Rehman Thaheem stated that a case was filed on July 12 based on a complaint by Advocate Abdul Fatah, who accused Adeem of “hurting the sentiments of the Sindhi community” at the City Court police station. The complaint alleged that Adeem made controversial remarks about Sindhis in one of his videos and attempted to “incite conflict between Sindhis and Punjabis.”
On July 15, Adeem had obtained protective bail from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for 15 days with a surety bond of Rs20,000. Although the IHC directed him to approach the appropriate court in Karachi, the investigating officer informed the magistrate that Adeem had neither joined the investigation nor surrendered to the court.
Additionally, PPP lawmaker Marvi Faseeh had filed a resolution against Adeem in the Sindh Assembly for his alleged derogatory comments about women during a TV show, Mukalma.
